A is for Arlene
by ShadowsOnTheMoon
Summary: Aria's been keeping a secret from her friends, something only Ali knew. When her friends begin to unravel her lies and -A starts taunting her about it, she's forced to come clean. But this triggers a flood of events that could have tragic consequences. Because nothing stays secret in Rosewood - especially not with -A there to keep everyone honest!
1. Watch your back

**I've been working on this for a few weeks now, and I think it's just about ready. I'm very excited to share it with you all (assuming anyone reads it, but I really hope they do!). The first chapter is quite short, more of an introduction/prologue than anything, but the other chapters (of which there are nineteen) are longer.**

**Background: this is set during the start of season three. It starts the day that the girls have the conversation in the bathroom where Emily calls Aria 'Arlene' (episode two, if I'm not much mistaken). So basically it skips the rest of that day and picks up after school. This story's going to be told from both Aria's perspective and from -A's (anything in first person), with some flashbacks at the start of each chapter.**

**I really hope it all comes together in the end, and I hope y'all enjoy it. Don't forget to review if you want to see more!**

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_"__You can't trust anybody," Alison said, her voice like wind chimes._

_"How do I know I can trust you then?" Aria asked, her teasing tone hiding her inner uneasiness._

_"Oh, sweetie." Alison turned her attention back to the shoebox she was holding._

_Aria noted that she didn't answer the question, but she didn't comment on it. If Ali wanted to keep something to herself, she would. It didn't matter what anyone else said._

_"Sometimes it's the ones who you're closest to," Ali mused, pulling a small sequined purse out of the box. "The ones you're meant to trust. The ones who you think would protect you with their lives. They're the ones who'll end up hurting you the most."_

_"You're in a serious mood," Aria said. It made her nervous when Ali started talking cryptically like this._

_Ali looked up at her and smiled. "There's a time and a place for everything," she said, pulling something from the purse. She held it out on her hand. "Here."_

_Aria looked at it, frowning. "Ali, why would I need this?"_

_"You never know," Ali replied._

_Aria reached out a tentative hand and took it. As she slid it into her pocket, she wondered if she'd just made a big mistake._

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Aria collapsed on her bed after school, kicking off her shoes and letting her bag fall to the floor with a thud. She kept replaying the day in her head as she pressed her face into her fluffy pink pillow. Nobody had seemed suspicious when she'd brought it up. Nobody had given her that _I know your secret and I'm going to use it against you _look – one she was uncomfortably familiar with. Her friends had just carried on the conversation, talking about Jenna and _that night_ and what had happened to Emily.

But Emily had mentioned something that nobody else knew. She'd said something that nobody could possibly know. Ali and Aria were the only ones who were in on that secret, and Aria had never told anyone. And why would Ali have told anyone? It didn't make sense. Her mind drifted back to that warm spring day, a couple months before Ali disappeared.

Seized with a sudden desire to know everything was okay, Aria leapt from her bed and scurried over to her closet. She shoved aside a row of coats, reaching past her collection of pre-Iceland dresses (she hadn't worn them since Ali disappeared; Ali had always thought they were hideous, and once she was gone Aria had felt it almost disrespectful to wear them) and into the drawer at the back.

Before she had a chance to pull it out, her phone went off. She jumped as if she'd been caught doing something indecent and quickly slammed her closet door closed. Taking quick, shallow breaths, she crossed the room, crouched down beside her bag, and withdrew her cell. The message was short, and it was terrifying.

**Uh oh! Looks like somebody's onto you. Better watch your back, Aria. Or should I say Arlene? Kisses. –A**

Aria jolted upright, her eyes scanning her room. It seemed empty – although in this town that hardly meant anything. She stood up slowly, her heart beating wildly, and looked out the window. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary there either: a couple of women in bright-colored spandex jogged past, their long ponytailed hair swinging behind them; her next-door neighbor walked by, his Labrador lunging ahead of him to chase a squirrel; her younger brother, Mike, was outside mowing the lawn, sneaking glances across the road – their neighbor happened to have a very attractive teenage daughter who was currently making a big show of collecting the mail.

She pulled the blinds closed and turned around, tugging at the ends of her hair in agitation. Emily knew, even though she didn't seem to _remember_ that she knew. And –A knew, which definitely couldn't lead to anything good. A feeling of dread washed over her as she settled down at her desk and flipped open her Spanish book.

_It's going to be okay_, she told herself sternly. _They know about Arlene, but they don't know everything. And they're not going to find out._

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_After I send Aria the text, I wait just long enough to see her reaction – she's so freaked! – before I jump on my bike and start to pedal away. I wave to Aria's brother on the way; he looks at me, confused, but then tentatively waves back. I make my way across town at a brisk pace, taking note of how people look at me. It always surprises me that they can't tell who I really am. They smile and wave, completely oblivious of the havoc I'm wreaking in the lives of those pretty little liars._

_They deserve it, of course. But it makes me all sort of warm and fuzzy, knowing that I've kept this secret for so long. Nobody would suspect that little ol' me was just hiding out in Aria's yard to send her a text at the exact moment that would freak her out the most. They have no clue that I've been watching, following, torturing these girls for months. They would never guess that I'm the one behind so much of the chaos that's struck the sleepy town of Rosewood this past year._

_And most of all, nobody knows how much I enjoy it._

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	2. Near miss

**Sorry for the slow update, and thank you for the reviews! This story was so much fun to write, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it. There are a few clues scattered around the story, so feel free to give me your theories about who you think A is and what you think is going to happen next. I've finished writing this story, and it's going to be 20 chapters long, including the prologue; so that will take us right through until a few days before the season premiere. Please do let me know what you think; if you don't want to leave a public review you're welcome to send me a private message instead (heck, you're welcome to do that anyway). See you next chapter. ;)**

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_"Ali, what are we -"_

_"Shh." Alison grabbed Aria's wrist and pulled her through the doors._

_Aria darted a glance behind her, but it looked like they were alone. The doors shut quietly behind them, and they were alone in the cavernous greenhouse._

_"This is beautiful," Aria said breathlessly, impressed despite her fear. They had just snuck in here, after all._

_"It is, isn't it?" Alison spun around, arms outstretched, her pastel pink dress floating around her and making her look like some kind of exotic bird._

_A butterfly landed on Aria's shoulder, gently beating its bright blue wings. Aria opened her mouth to make some comment on its beauty, but Alison spoke first._

_"Do you still have the ID card I gave you?"_

_Aria suddenly felt the desire to flee. "You brought me here to talk about that?"_

_"Of course, sweetie," Alison replied, tilting her head. "I just want to make sure you're safe."_

_"Safe?" Aria echoed, whipping the ID card out of her purse and waving it in front of Alison's face. "How is this possibly going to keep me safe?"_

_The blonde-haired girl looked away, watching as the blue butterfly drifted off. "Do you ever just want to run away sometimes?" she asked._

_Aria wasn't sure if they were still talking about the same thing, but it made her feel unsettled all the same._

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That night Aria sat in the dingiest bar she could find, hoping to forget her worries as she stared down a glass of Jack Daniels. She'd come to this bar a few times and they'd never carded her; the bouncer was usually too drunk himself to care who he let inside. It was frequented by college kids, but not the rowdy type you'd get uptown. These guys would slip into the bar in twos and threes, down their drinks like they were going out of style, and then stagger off amidst a murmur of drunken laughter. It was her kind of place.

She ran her finger along the rim of the glass, deep in thought. That message –A had sent had been perfectly clear. –A knew about Arlene. She had no idea how, and at the moment she didn't really care. Her main concern was what –A was going to do with this knowledge. If they went to her friends with this, she wasn't sure how she'd be able to explain it. She wasn't even sure her friends would give her a chance to explain anything.

Ali's warning rang in her ears. _You can't trust anybody_. At the time Aria had felt a little uneasy, but she'd laughed it off. She didn't trust many people, although sometimes she'd still get it wrong. Like Garrett, or Wilden. Trusting them had been a major mistake, and she wasn't about to repeat that experience. Since then she hadn't extended her trust to anyone else, which left her with only three people she still believed in: Emily, Hanna, and Spencer. She couldn't even dispel the last flickers of doubt about her father, who'd been acting pretty sketchy lately.

But did that mean Ali hadn't even trusted them? Sure, she'd kept her cards close to her chest, but she hadn't been guarded around them, exactly. She'd just liked her privacy, dangling her secrets over their heads with a smug smile on her face. But they'd been friends. They'd kept her secrets, and she'd kept theirs. Well, mostly.

"Can I get you another?"

Aria jumped, bumping her now-empty glass and sending it spinning. She brushed her hair out of her face and looked out of the corner of her eye at the guy who'd spoken. He was sitting two seats down, a cute lopsided smile on his boyish face. He looked like he was too young to be here too. She smiled at him to hide her shock.

The guy reached out one lean arm and stopped her glass from spinning, then signalled to the bartender for two more. "You come here often?" he asked her, shaking his ruffled dirty blond hair in an irritatingly adorable way.

She tilted her head, fiddling with her charm bracelet. "Does that line ever actually work?"

He looked around the bar and then leaned closer to her. "Truth be told, you're the only girl pretty enough for me to have tried it out before."

For a second she allowed herself to be flattered, and then common sense kicked her very hard. "I… look, you're cute and all -" she began falteringly.

He grinned, leaning back on his stool. "No worries," he said easily. "You're not interested. It's cool."

"It's not – I mean, I have a boyfriend."

She wished Ezra were here now. He was away visiting family – some kind of emergency, last she heard, although he hadn't been able to tell her much. She hadn't spoken to him in three days, and it was driving her crazy. She needed him now more than ever.

At that moment their drinks arrived, and they finished them very quickly. But when Aria snuck a glance at her suitor, he didn't seem upset or annoyed. When he'd chugged back the last of his drink he smiled at her again. "My name's Sam," he offered. "I come here pretty often, so maybe we'll run into each other again."

As he stood up and started walking away, Aria took a large mouthful of her whiskey, almost choking on it. Eyes watering, she watched Sam slide into one of the booths at the back of the bar. She wasn't used to this much attention; that first meeting with Ezra in the bar had been so unusual for her that for a week afterwards she'd had to keep reminding herself that it had really happened. The attention from this Sam guy had been unexpected… but not entirely unwelcome.

When her glass was once again empty she decided to cut her losses. She hadn't forgotten any of her worries; they seemed a little fuzzier, perhaps, but just as real and terrifying. She grabbed her purse, slid from her stool, and started across the bar. As she reached the door she thought she felt someone watching her. At first she thought it was Sam, but then she realized she was feeling more chills than tingles.

She paused, one hand on the door, and looked around the bar. She'd felt like this earlier, when she'd gotten that text from –A. She even checked her phone now, but there were no messages. She was probably just being paranoid. Sighing, she closed the door and stepped outside into the crisp night air.

An empty HappyMeal box fluttered across the parking lot and a stray cat sprang onto a nearby dumpster. As Aria headed toward her car, she felt spooked. That text –A had sent her, along with the feeling of being watched in the bar, had put her on high alert. She kept darting glances all over the place, half-expecting someone to sneak out of the shadows and yell '_Gotcha!_'

She was only a few steps away from her car when she heard a noise up the other end of the parking lot. She turned to look and was blinded by headlights. There was the sound of an engine starting up, and she squinted to see where the car was. Before she could see anything the lights grew brighter and the engine louder, and the next thing she knew the car was speeding toward her.

Her limbs felt like lead. Her mind was screaming at her to move, but she could do no more than blink. The car was heading straight for her, speeding up. She was forcibly reminded of a time when she and her family had been going on vacation in the woods, and her father had nearly run over a deer. The poor creature had stood in the middle of the road, eyes wide but seemingly uncomprehending, and they would have hit it if her father hadn't swerved at the last minute. She suddenly knew exactly how that deer felt.

The car was a few paces away, and she still hadn't moved. She closed her eyes, waiting for death, but suddenly she felt something yanking her away. She let out a shriek as someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her out of the way of the car, which sped past and disappeared around the corner. As the sound of the car faded, she opened her eyes and looked at the person who'd rescued her.

"Aria." Spencer's eyes were worried, and the light from the nearby streetlamp made them seem brighter than usual. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Aria stammered. She felt dizzy, from the whiskey and the car and the stress of everything. She was up against the car, and when she tried to push herself off and take a step forward she stumbled. Spencer's hands shot out to catch her.

"Whoa," Spencer said gently, guiding her to the curb and helping her sit down. She sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders. "You scared me there."

Aria let out a weak laugh, sure that her heart was about to break out of her chest at any moment. "Sorry."

They sat there for a few minutes, Spencer rubbing circles on Aria's back. Aria closed her eyes, willing herself not to be sick. Maybe she shouldn't have had that second drink. When her breathing finally returned to normal, she lifted her head and looked at Spencer.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

Spencer stared out across the parking lot, seeming worlds away. But then she blinked, switching her focus back to Aria. "I came here to meet Toby," she explained. "I know it's not the fanciest place for a date, but… well, we wanted somewhere out of the way. My parents still aren't thrilled with him, so I thought it was better to be discreet about it."

"Well, I'm glad you were here." Aria leaned against her friend, feeling comforted just by her presence.

"I shudder to think what would have happened if I wasn't," Spencer said grimly, looking at the place where the car had disappeared. "Do you know who it was?"

Aria shook her head. She had a feeling it was –A, but she wasn't sure. It could have just been some drunk college kid who hadn't seen her. And there was no sense worrying Spencer over nothing; they all had enough to worry about on their own.

"Well, we should get you home," Spencer said, squeezing Aria's shoulders. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"You don't have to -" Aria protested.

"That's not what I asked." Spencer stood, pulling Aria to her feet as she did so. "I asked if you wanted me to."

A gust of wind washed over them, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Aria shivered, wishing she'd thought to bring a cardigan. "Yeah. I'd like that."

She grabbed her purse, which she'd dropped when she'd been pulled out of the way of the car, and followed Spencer to her car. As she sat down in the passenger seat, she shot one last glance around the parking lot. Everything seemed normal… and somehow that just made it seem even scarier.

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_"She wasn't expecting it all!" my partner-in-crime says gleefully._

_"I'm sorry I missed out," I reply absently, flicking quickly through the Rosewood High yearbook. "Sounds like it was fun."_

_I tune out whatever my co-conspirator says in response as I find the page I'm looking for. Carefully I pick up a black permanent marker and circle four of the photos. Their bright smiling faces stare up at me, unaware that I'm about to be their undoing. I put a large X across one of the faces and write a quick note across the top._

_"Are you sure you want to do this?"_

_"Huh?" I close the book, startled, and look into a pair of eyes that are gazing back with irritating understanding._

_"I'm just saying, maybe you're moving too quickly. These girls -"_

_"I know," I interrupt. "I don't care."_

_At the concerned look I'm given, I soften and say, "It's okay. I can do this. I'll drop this in one of their lockers tomorrow, and then…"_

_And then, the real fun will start._

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	3. Careful, Aria

**I cannot thank you enough for the reviews, guys. And don't worry, I wouldn't kill someone off so early... okay, maybe I would, but I didn't. :p I'm a huge Sparia fan so both last chapter and this chapter are pretty Sparia-heavy; hope you don't mind. ;) Looking forward to hearing what you think of this chapter!**

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_Aria lay on her bed, her cell in one hand and the ID Ali had given her in the other. Her thumb hovered over Ali's number. There were so many things she wanted to ask, but she knew that even if she got up the courage to voice her concerns to Ali, she'd probably just get given a vague or nonsensical reply. She sighed, tossing her phone onto her pillow, and looked at the ID card._

_It looked authentic. There was her picture, her mouth quirked up in half a smile, her pink streaks looking particularly bright. And below that, a name. Arlene Dove. It sounded pretty, lyrical. Her date of birth was listed a few years before her own – apparently 'Arlene' was already twenty one. She wondered what she'd use this for. She and the girls already had fake IDs to get them into bars and clubs. And Ali had told her not to show this one to anyone, not even Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. What was the point in having an ID nobody could see?_

_A knock at the door startled her._

_"Just a minute," she called, jumping from her bed and dashing over to her closet. She pushed aside a rack of coats and reached into her drawer, pulling out a small shoebox. She quickly tucked the ID in there, hid it back in the drawer, and closed her closet just as her friends came into her room, laden with smiles and magazines and ways to celebrate the start of what would surely be the best year ever._

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At school the next day Aria slid into her first period class, tucked her hair behind her ears, and sighed. Last night Spencer had driven her home and stayed with her while she calmed down. Even though she started feeling better, she'd stayed awake long after her friend had left, just staring at the ceiling. She still felt like it was –A who had tried to run her over, but until she had proof she wasn't going to bring it up with the girls. They'd all been through so much, and she didn't want to worry them needlessly. Unfortunately that didn't stop _her_ from worrying.

"You doing okay?"

The voice made her jump so much that she knocked her notebook to the floor. As she bent down to pick it up she caught a glimpse of wavy blonde hair.

"I'm fine, Han," she said, straightening.

Her friend blinked at her, seeming torn between knowing something was wrong and not wanting to make it worse. Too tired to be able to pretend things were okay, Aria was relieved when the teacher walked in and started the lesson. Hanna turned back to the front, and Aria felt like she could relax. She loved her friends, how they made her feel cared for and were always looking out for her, but sometimes it was easier to be alone. At least then she didn't have to try to hold it together.

As soon as class ended Aria shot from her seat and headed for the hall, hoping to get to her locker before Hanna caught up with her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and internally groaned. No such luck.

"Hey," Hanna said, speeding up to keep pace with her. They dodged a gaggle of freshman girls gossiping about some hot new math teacher and a gangly boy who was getting rejected by a freckle-faced girl. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Aria shrugged, ducking around a pile of abandoned leaflets. "Oh, just my locker."

As she reached it they were joined by Emily and Spencer, who were deep in conversation. They stopped talking abruptly when they reached Aria and Hanna. Aria looked from Spencer to Emily and back again, raising an eyebrow.

"You told her, didn't you?" Aria accused.

"I'm sorry," Spencer said sheepishly. "It's just – last night. What if that was –A?"

"Wait, last night?" Hanna interrupted. "What happened last night?"

Spencer turned to her, shifting her pile of textbooks from one arm to the other, and said, "Last night someone tried to run Aria over."

"What?" Hanna practically yelped, looking at Aria in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I – I didn't want to worry you," she mumbled. It sounded like a flimsy excuse now.

"How did you know about it then?" Hanna asked Spencer.

Aria turned away from them and put in the combination for her locker. She didn't need to hear this fight. Spencer would admit she was there, Emily would ask what she'd been doing there, Hanna would be hurt they hadn't told her sooner. Their fights were often predictable like this; if Aria was called upon to give her opinion, she could just give one of her standard responses like 'I can see it from both sides' and 'I think you're all right' and they'd give her a frustrated look, then keep arguing amongst themselves.

The dial clicked and she opened her locker, reaching in to grab her book for her next class. Her hands brushed against something shoved up the back of the locker, something big and bulky. Thinking it was a textbook she'd forgotten was in there, she pulled it out and looked at the cover. She frowned. Rosewood High Yearbook? What was that doing there? It wasn't even last year's; it was from the last year Ali was at school.

"What do you think, Aria?" Emily asked.

So here was the part of the conversation where she'd get dragged in, mumble a non-committal answer, and then sidle out again. But she was more distracted than usual. She ran a finger along the edge of the yearbook, trying to figure out what it would be doing in her locker.

"Um," she said softly, "I'm not sure."

"What is that?" Hanna peered over her shoulder at the cover. "The yearbook?"

"Yeah, I guess," she replied distractedly. Curious, she opened the book. It fell open to a page near the middle. It was their grade's photos. Four of the pictures were circled in thick black marker, and a fifth was entirely scribbled out. And one of the four – oh god.

The book fell from her grip and thudded to the floor. She stared at it, her heat beating wildly, her palms getting sweaty.

"Hey, what's up?" Spencer asked concernedly.

Emily bent down and picked up the book, which was still open on the same page. She gasped, and Hanna snatched the book from her and looked at it, her eyes widening. Mutely she handed it to Spencer, who grimaced.

"I guess last night wasn't an accident then," Spencer said, looking in horror at the four circled pictures – one of each of the girls – and the big black cross right across Aria's face. The scribbled-out picture was Alison's. "Does this mean you're –A's new target?"

Aria opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, the implications of this discovery making her feel queasy.

"Um, Aria," Spencer said tentatively, "I don't want to make things worse, but…"

She gestured to a line of writing in the top corner that Aria hadn't seen. **Careful who you cross – wouldn't want to end up like Ali, would you?** **–A **

"You okay?" Hanna asked cautiously, putting a comforting hand on Aria's shoulder.

She shrugged it off and slammed her locker closed. "No. I – I have to go."

Without another word Aria spun on her heel and dashed off down the hall. She could hear her friends calling after her, and it sounded like one of them even started following her, but by the time she got to the girls' bathroom she was still alone. She threw herself into the nearest stall, closed and locked the door, and collapsed against the wall, biting her lip to stop herself from crying.

The bell rang to signal the start of the next period, and still she didn't move. A minute later there was a gentle knock on the stall door. For some reason that was what made her break. The tears started, even though she was still biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. She covered her face with her hands, tears spilling over her fingers.

"Aria?" Spencer called, tapping on the door again. "You in there?"

She turned her head towards the door, picturing her friend on the other side: probably leaning against the door, her face tight with worry, eyes wide with concern. She stifled a sob, took a deep breath, and replied, "Yeah, I'm here."

There was a pause. Then, "You okay?"

Aria opened her mouth to say something like 'I'm fine' or 'I'll be all right', but what came out instead was, "I could have died last night."

"I know."

The reply was soft, gentle. It made Aria feel like she was crumbling; her friends had to talk in hushed voices around her or she'd break down completely. In that moment she felt weaker than she had in months.

"Can you come out here?" Spencer asked after a moment.

Although Aria knew she must look awful – eyes red from crying, tears still dripping down her cheeks – her friends had seen her at her worst before. She didn't need to hide from them. She wiped her face with her sleeve, sniffled a little, and unlocked the door. When she stepped out Spencer enveloped her in a giant bear hug. Finally Spencer pulled away, brushing some of Aria's hair out of her eyes and gently dabbing away some of her friend's tears.

"You'll be okay," she assured her. "We're not going to let anything happen to you, I promise."

Aria nodded, an idea blossoming in her mind. If she was –A's new target, then that meant she was in danger. But more than that, it meant she could potentially be putting her friends in danger. It would be just like –A to use her to take down her friends. She would not let that happen. She had to get to the bottom of this.

Spencer seemed to sense her new resolve. "Do you know why –A would be targeting you?"

She shook her head, thinking. She did know why –A might want to target her, but she wasn't about to say it until she had more of the facts. And there was still a tiny sliver of doubt, that little voice in the back of her head saying that she couldn't even trust her friends.

"You don't know anything that –A might not want you to know?" Spencer pressed.

"Spence, I -"

Her friend backed off immediately, aware that she could do more harm than good. "I'm sorry. I don't want to make things worse. I just don't want anything happening to you."

"I know," Aria said, squeezing Spencer's hand in gratitude. "I just need to figure some stuff out."

"Well, we'll be here when you need us." Spencer squeezed back, and then headed off for second period after making Aria promise to call or text if she needed anything.

Aria stood for a moment, indecisive, and then slung her bag over her shoulder, marched out of the bathroom, down the hall, and straight out of the school. She had more important things to do.

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_"So that takes care of Aria for the moment," I muse._

_I'm met with various murmurs of agreement, which are always nice but mostly unnecessary. I know my plan will work. I'm kind of a genius, after all._

_"What's the next part of the plan?" the person to my left asks._

_I glance at them, then back down at the notebook in front of me. "Well, Aria's out of the way for the moment. She was the main concern, so now we can relax and have a little fun. Who do we want to go after next?"_

_I pour another glass of scotch, swirling it around in the glass while the others squabble over who they want to target next. Now that Aria's so distracted by my threat – which I have no qualms about following through on – I can breathe easy. If she figures out how much she actually knows, and how to use it against me, I'm in trouble._

_I tilt the glass back and take a long swig. She's not going to figure it out. She doesn't know how it all fits together – she doesn't even know she has any of the pieces to the puzzle._

_And if she ever does figure it out, I'll be there to make sure she never breathes a word of it to anyone._

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	4. Some kind of candy

**Wow, thank you for the great response last chapter!**

**Sgdp1261, you are amazing; your reviews are so consistent and so heartwarming, and I really, really appreciate it. Perhaps Spencer is acting a bit shady... but really, who doesn't in Rosewood? ;) (Then again maybe I just needed a reason for her to end up there so I could write an awesome Sparia save.)**

**Guest, thank you! To be honest writing the -A parts has actually been one of my favorite parts of this story.**

**Runawaybaby555, you are too sweet. Your reviews literally make me blush because they're so lovely. And I'm really glad you think I'm doing a good job of portraying Aria - I know how much you love her, so coming from you that means a lot.**

**Forever Courage, thank you. I aim to update once a day, so stay tuned. Also, I really like your screen name. :)**

**insertnameherex, thanks. It was such fun getting into that '-A headspace'; one of the first things I did when planning this story was think, 'Okay, what does -A want? Why are they doing this?' Also, props for using supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in a review, that's a first. :p**

**Anyway. Onto the actual chapter. Be sure to review. :)**

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_It was another one of those days where the girls didn't feel like doing anything. Spencer had invited them over to her house to study, but nobody had even opened a textbook yet. Aria was lying on Spencer's floor, flicking through a fashion magazine with Emily and giggling over some of the more ridiculous trends (this issue featured feathered hats, which even Aria couldn't pull off without looking stupid). Spencer and Hanna were sitting by the window, watching a couple of fit guys mowing the lawn across the road. Ali was languidly sprawled out on Spencer's bed, carefully writing something down in a pink-paged journal._

_"What are you writing?" Aria asked, sitting up once they'd finished the issue._

_Ali looked up, flashed the girls a smile that seemed to be particularly aimed at Spencer and Hanna, and said, "That's for me to know, and you guys to go crazy wondering about."_

_"Come on, Ali," Hanna pleaded. "You've read all our journals. Why can't we read yours?"_

_"What?" Spencer snapped her attention away from the hot guys. "You've read my journal? I never gave you permission to do that."_

_"Oh, sweetie," Ali said condescendingly. "It's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission."_

_"Ali, journals are private," Emily said, looking uncomfortable. "You can't just read them -"_

_"Hiding something, Em?" Ali taunted. "We're friends, aren't we? Friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other; only _for_ each other."_

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Although Aria was fairly confident that nobody had seen her leave the school, she was still jumpy. She'd get in a lot of trouble if anybody found out she'd skipped school. Normally she wouldn't mind so much; her parents would yell a bit, her friends would laugh, and her teachers would just shake their heads disapprovingly. But with where she was going today, and what she was doing, she wouldn't be able to tell her friends. That meant that if anybody found out, if her friends found out, she would have to come up with a pretty convincing lie. And even though she was hiding this from her friends, she didn't want to have to actually _lie_ to them.

She locked her car and hurried across the parking lot, keeping her head low and her eyes down. She didn't look up until she reached the safety of the diner, which was almost empty. As she slid into a booth towards the back, the waitress gave her a friendly smile and the person sitting at the bar looked over his shoulder at her, raised an eyebrow, and probably would have said something lewd if the waitress hadn't affectionately hit him upside the head and told him to quit staring.

"Sorry about him," the waitress said, coming over to her and plopping a menu down on the table. "He's a nice guy, but he just doesn't know how to mind his own business."

Aria flipped open the menu, and then closed it again. She was too nauseated to eat. "I'll just have a coffee, thanks."

The waitress jotted it down on her notebook, even though she probably didn't need to, flashed her a smile, and disappeared behind the counter. Aria looked down at her thumbs, wondering if she was making a big mistake. About a week ago Jason – Ali's older brother – had come to her with something he'd found in an old bag of his. It had been a notebook of Ali's that had somehow gotten mixed up in his stuff, probably when he was in such a hurry to leave Rosewood after her disappearance. There was nothing in the book except a single phone number, which Jason given her, saying something along the lines of 'this might help you figure something out, Nancy Drew'. She'd intended on sharing it with her friends so they could follow this possible lead together like they had with others before. But something had held her back, and she'd ended up calling the number and setting up a meeting by herself. Either this could help lead her to Ali's killer… or it could get her killed. She gulped.

"Hey."

The voice made her look up, into bright blue eyes framed by a mess of sandy blond hair. The guy was a few years older than her, and pretty cute. He shot a glance around the diner, then back at Aria.

"I'm here to meet someone," he said. "You wouldn't be -?"

"Vivian's friend," Aria supplied, "yeah."

She wasn't sure what had made her say 'Vivian' instead of 'Alison' when she'd called, but it was a good thing she had.

"Great." The guy sat down across from her, flagged the waitress down, and ordered a coffee and a plate of fries. He even asked if Aria wanted anything, but she shook her head and kept staring at her hands. "So," he said once the waitress had bustled off again, "you're Vivian's friend."

She opened her mouth to tell him that past tense would be more applicable, but he ran a nervous hand through his hair and lowered his eyes a little. Then he said, "I'm sorry. _Was_. I know she – she passed away."

That phrase didn't seem particularly fitting for Ali. 'Passed away' made it sound so peaceful, so gentle. Ali had been hit over the head with something hard and then buried alive. There was nothing peaceful about that. Aria suppressed a shudder.

"Yeah," she said again, unable to think of anything eloquent. Now she was here, she wasn't sure what exactly she'd been hoping to find.

"I'm sorry, I've sort of forgotten your name," the guy said, looking sheepish.

"It's Arlene," Aria said smoothly, pouring some sugar in her coffee and swirling it around with a spoon. "You're Matt, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I met Vivian a few years back, at this tiny little bookstore in Philly. What about you?"

Aria swallowed a huge gulp of coffee. "What about me what?"

"How did you know Vivian?"

Crap. She hadn't thought that far through. She had no idea what Vivian was like, what lies Ali had invented about her. She kept stirring, watching the tiny flecks of sugar disappear and the steam rise off her drink. "We were on the same field hockey team," she invented.

Matt gave her a measured look. "Field hockey, eh? You don't look like the type."

"Yeah, well, people can surprise you." That sounded suitably philosophical without actually meaning anything.

He nodded like she'd said something deep. His coffee arrived and he thanked the waitress and then took a sip, not even waiting for it to cool down. Aria didn't know whether to be impressed or to laugh at him. He set his cup back down, hesitated, and then said quietly, "Do you think somebody actually murdered her?"

The question caught her off-guard. She spluttered, causing coffee to dribble down her chin. Matt quickly handed her a napkin, and she wiped it off and then scrunched the napkin up, dropping it onto the table. She looked at him, contemplating how to respond. "I think it's the only explanation that makes sense," she said. "I mean, with the way they found her and everything…"

She stopped, not sure how much Matt knew about the murder. He didn't seem shocked; just sad. He also seemed approachable, like he wouldn't actually mind talking about this. She finished the last of her coffee, let the spoon clatter against the side of the mug, and asked him the question she was dying to have answered.

"Do you – do you know who might have wanted to hurt her? Vivian, I mean."

Matt didn't answer immediately. He sipped his coffee thoughtfully, not taking his eyes off Aria. "Are you asking if I know who might have killed her?"

"Uh."

"I do have an idea, actually," he said, and Aria sat up straighter in anticipation. "Vivian had this friend. They'd been fighting a lot before she disappeared, and she complained about her like crazy. I never met the girl, but from the way Vivian described her… it sounded like she had it in her."

"Do you know her name?" Aria asked, hardly daring to breathe.

"Not her real name, no," Matt replied, and Aria felt her heart sink a little. "Vivian called her by a nickname. What was it, some kind of candy, or… Taffy. That was it. She called her Taffy."

Aria slumped in her seat, racking her brains. The name didn't ring any bells. Still, it was more information than she'd had before. If this Taffy girl had really killed Vivian – Ali – then maybe she could track her down and… her thought trail ended there. What was she going to do? Confront this Taffy person? Convince her to confess?

"Well," Matt said, startling her out of her thoughts, "I should get going now. But it was nice meeting you – Arlene, was it?"

She nodded.

"Maybe we could do this again sometime," he went on, chucking a tip down on the table. "I don't really know any of Vivian's friends. It would be good to… you know, talk about it."

"Yeah," she said, as he stood up and pulled his coat back on, "I'd like that."

Once she heard the bells on the door jingling she leaned forward, resting her head in her hands, and tried not to cry. She'd hoped this would get her somewhere, and maybe it had. But that somewhere was still a long way from tracking down Ali's killer. Her phone buzzed, and she closed her eyes and ignored it. But it went off again, and then again, and finally she gave in.

"Hello?" she asked wearily.

"Hey," Emily said cautiously. "Where are you?"

"I'm… in the library," she improvised.

"Really? I was just there and I didn't see you."

"Oh, yeah, I…" She didn't have an excuse. She was way too tired to be thinking on her feet right now. "What's up?"

Emily didn't comment on the unsubtle change of topic. "I was just, you know, checking up on you."

There was something in her voice that made Aria pause. She sounded like she wasn't just checking on her; it was almost like she was _testing_ her. But she didn't have the energy to overthink anything at the moment.

"I'm fine, Em," she said automatically.

There was a sceptical pause. "Aria -"

"Really," Aria interjected. She wasn't in the mood to have any deep and meaningful conversations. "I'm okay. I just needed a quiet place to get my thoughts together."

"Oh. Well, if you want to talk -"

"I know."

"Anyway," Emily went on, making an apparent effort to sound brighter. "Hanna and I are going over to Spencer's after school to study. Do you want to come?"

Although she really didn't feel like it, there was no legitimate reason to say no. "Sure," she said with as much false cheeriness as she could muster without making herself sick. "I'll see you guys there."

It was only after she'd hung up and left the diner that something occurred to her. Matt had known Ali as Vivian – but he'd also known she was dead, that she'd been murdered. How was that possible? She rolled her eyes, pulling out of the parking lot. It seemed like the closer she got to an answer, the more questions she ended up with.

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_"So I found out something juicy today," the person in front of me says, seemingly unable to contain their excitement._

_I look up from my game of solitaire and gesture for them to continue._

_"It turns out that a certain somebody has been getting cosy with... well, see for yourself."_

_Suddenly a phone is shoved under my face, and I pull it back, frowning at the screen. The image comes into focus and I grin. This _is_ juicy._

_"Well done," I say. "Since I'm still busy with the big plan, I'm going to let you handle this."_

_"R-really?"_

_"Sure. Just run your plan by me before you put it into action. I'm sure you can come up with something suitable. Just enough to stir up some trouble."_

_I lean back, stretching. I've been sitting at this desk for hours now, and I think I'm starting to get a crick in my neck. I stand up and walk around the small room, checking that everything is where it's supposed to be. The collection of pictures over by the corner. The dollhouse with models of each of the girls against the far wall. The small container of pills under the desk. Everything is where it should be._

_And those bitches are too._

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**What do you think is going to happen next? And any ideas on who -A might be?**


	5. What's a picture worth?

**Sgdp1261 - one of these days I'm going to write a story where someone random like the mailman is -A. XD (And thanks as always for your lovely review).**

**Forever Courage - thanks for the review! Everyone seems to think that Matt is part of the A-Team... keep reading and you'll find out if you're right. ;)**

**insertnameherex - your review made me smile, thank you. I love seeing people get invested in my stories. Don't worry, it's not ending anytime soon.**

**Here's the next chapter, which I actually really enjoyed writing. So let me know what you think. :)**

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_There was a reason they never studied at Alison's house. Not only was it poorly stocked with study supplies (there wasn't a dictionary anywhere in the house, and her parents were still on a health kick so there weren't any snacks), Jason was home and being very distracting. They'd been trying to work for an hour now, and even Spencer had only managed to do half a page of history questions._

_"Can I borrow twenty dollars?"_

_The voice made Aria jump; she hadn't heard Jason come up behind her._

_"What for?" Alison asked suspiciously._

_He raised his eyes, looking like he was about to give some kind of snippy reply, but she was already reaching for her wallet. She slid the bill across the table._

_"Thanks." The second he picked it up he was gone again, slipping through the door as quietly as he'd come in._

_"What a loser," Ali said with a derisive snort._

_"He's your brother," Spencer said wearily; they'd had this argument before, and it always ended the same way._

_"Yes, and we all know how important family is," Ali said pointedly._

_Aria glanced at Emily and Hanna, who were as lost as she was. For weeks now Ali had been making jibes like that, putting particular emphasis on the word _family_ and always looking in Spencer's direction. Aria didn't know what was going on there, but she didn't bother to ask; the group had so many secrets it was almost pointless to try to track them all down._

_"Guys, give it a rest," Emily said, nervously watching the two most dominant members of the group stare each other down. "We don't need to be fighting each other."_

_"That's right," Ali said, turning her attention to Emily. "We have much more important things to be doing, right, Em?"_

_Emily bristled, and Aria could almost feel the anger radiating from her. She stepped in quickly to diffuse the situation, making a lame joke about her chemistry homework, and everyone relaxed. But she could still sense the tension, and a little voice in her head asked her if friendships were supposed to be this hard._

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"I don't get it," Hanna moaned, rolling onto her back and covering her eyes with her hands.

"What don't you get?" Spencer reached over and grabbed her textbook. "No, here, you just mixed up these two equations…"

Aria blew a perfect round strawberry-scented bubble, watching Spencer tutor Hanna. Emily was sprawled out on the floor on the other side of the bed; Aria had thought she was deep in concentration, because every now and then she would make a kind of grunting noise, like she was paying attention to something really complicated. But then it turned out she was just asleep, and snoring occasionally.

Spencer handed Hanna back her book, then tossed a pillow at Emily, who jerked awake with a muffled shriek.

"Oh god," Emily mumbled, sitting up and running her hands through her hair. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Uh, yeah," Spencer said teasingly.

"It's not fair," Hanna grumbled. "Emily gets to sleep and I have to work."

"She doesn't _get_ to sleep," Spencer pointed out. "I just threw a pillow at her face."

Emily rubbed her neck, wincing.

"You okay, Em?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah. My neck's just kind of stiff. Too much swim practice, I guess."

Hanna tossed her a small tube of some kind of cream. "Try this," she suggested. "I use it sometimes when I get aches from sitting at my desk for too long."

Aria looked down at her own pile of work, which didn't seem to be diminishing. However, she had managed to draw a miniature abstract self-portrait on the back of one of her worksheets, and she was quite proud of it. She added some squiggles around it, then sat back, pleased.

"Seems like your work's going well," Spencer commented. She was, of course, already finished her regular homework and halfway through an extra-credit history assignment.

"Um, yeah," Aria said, closing her book and reaching for her bag. "I guess."

"Hey Aria, can you look over this paragraph for me?" Emily asked, pointing to her English notebook. "I'm not sure it flows right."

"Me?" Aria said. "Shouldn't Spencer do it?"

Spencer rolled her eyes; she was well used to being asked to proofread, edit, and sometimes even write assignments.

"You do kind of have a unique perspective on English," Emily said cheekily.

"Hey, just because I'm dating an English teacher doesn't mean I'm suddenly a scholar," Aria said, but she went over to her anyway.

Aria read the passage quickly, still a little spooked about being too close to Emily. She had, after all, made reference to Aria's alter ego Arlene – and she'd never talked to the girls about that. Emily had been drunk at the time, so it was possible she could have just been confused; she may not know anything. But of all the names she could have called her, she'd chosen the one that Aria actually sometimes called herself. That seemed too unlikely to be a coincidence.

"There you go," Aria said, scribbling a quick note across the page. "If you switch those two sentences, and add this one to that one, it should flow better."

Emily muttered the paragraph, with improvements, under her breath. Then she smiled. "Yes, that's better. Thanks!"

Aria nodded in acknowledgement, then got up and went back to her seat by the window. Emily didn't _seem_ like she was suspicious of her. She hadn't mentioned Arlene again, and she hadn't made any of those pointed I-know-you're-hiding-something jabs that Ali had been so good at. So maybe Emily didn't know anything… or maybe she just knew more than she was letting on. But did that mean Emily was somehow involved with –A? That thought was too horrible to even contemplate, and she ejected it from her mind with as much force as she could.

Aria rubbed her temples, frowning. This second-guessing was getting really tiring. She had to trust her friends. She couldn't get through this without them. There was no way she could solve Ali's death on her own – and why should she try, anyway? Why shouldn't she talk to her friends about it? Because of something Ali had said? Ali was always saying cryptic, creepy, or cruel things, and they hadn't listened to a lot of them. Maybe she'd been wrong about this too.

Closing her book and sticking her pen in her ponytail for safekeeping, she opened her mouth to come clean about Arlene, Matt, and the investigating she'd been doing by herself. But before she could say anything, there was a sharp ringing. Hanna's cell. Hanna snatched it up and read the message, maybe thinking it was Caleb. Her face fell.

"Who is it?" Spencer asked absently, bent over an encyclopaedia so big it was making her bed sag.

Hanna swallowed, her eyes locked on the screen. Then she shoved her phone in her pocket and started packing up her things. "Just my mom," she replied. "She wants me home."

"What? Why?" Emily asked, sitting up.

Hanna's mom rarely called her back home. As long as she knew Hanna was okay, she didn't really mind where she was.

Halfway through pulling on her coat, Hanna shrugged. "She just wants me home, okay?"

There was something she wasn't saying – they all knew it, but they also knew she wasn't going to spill. Not yet, anyway. So they said their farewells and let her dash out the door. A minute later they heard a car door slam, and then the sounds of her driving off.

"What do you think that was about?" Aria asked.

"I'm not sure." Emily frowned, chewing on the end of her pencil. "Do you think she's okay?"

"I hope so," Spencer said distractedly as she copied a definition from the encyclopaedia. Then she looked up, her eyes soft with concern. "Do you think we should have gone after her?"

Aria shook her head, watching a few leaves fall from the tree by the driveway. Next-door's dog, a fuzzy little Papillon, tried to catch them through the fence, then twirled in frustrated circles when it failed. "No. She'll come to us when she's ready."

And she did. Three days later Aria was hurrying out of class – she was late for her next one because she'd stayed behind to talk to the teacher about an assignment she didn't quite understand – when someone caught her arm and dragged her into an empty classroom.

"Hanna?" she said, blinking.

The blonde-haired girl stood in front of her, chewing her thumbnail and shooting anxious glances at the door.

"Hey, what's up?" Aria asked worriedly. Hanna looked like she was about to cry.

"When we were at Spencer's the other day, -A sent me a text." The words tumbled out in a rush.

"What did it say?" Aria's heartbeat was quickening. She kept hoping that one day she'd be able to calmly deal with –A's texts, but now every time she or her friends got one she found herself dissolving into a nervous wreck.

"It… it was more of a picture than a message," Hanna said tentatively. Then, without another word, she whipped out her phone and put it in Aria's hands.

Aria frowned, but flipped it open anyway and looked at the screen. There was a picture there. Two people – adults, it looked like – were kissing. Quite passionately too. She was about to say something about never being too old to find love when she stopped. The guy in the picture looked familiar. And now she thought about it, so did the girl.

"Oh. My. God," she said slowly, the phone clattering to the floor.

It stayed on that page, proudly displaying the picture of her father making out with Hanna's mother.

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_"I've come up with an idea for your big plan."_

_"Yeah?" I don't even bother looking up from the map I've been poring over for the past hour._

_"Look, I know you're Red Coat and all, but -"_

_"Don't call me that," I snap, jerking my head up to look at the person in front of me._

_"S-sorry."_

_I sigh, relenting. "Fine. Tell me what you've got. I'm running kind of low on inspiration at the moment anyway."_

_"Well, you're going to love this…"_

_And, god help me, I do._

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	6. That hit the spot

**A/N is at the end of the chapter because it's so long. Diving right into it today. Enjoy.**

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_Aria leaned into him, feeling his lips brush against her ear as he whispered some undoubtedly sleazy yet thankfully inaudible comment to her. The music boomed around them, so loud she could swear she felt her ribcage rattling. They'd been dancing for ten minutes now, and half that time had been spent trying to get him to place his hands higher than her waist. He kept sneaking lower, and she'd mock-playfully slap them away._

_Finally she got a glimpse of the person she was actually here to see. She excused herself from the guy, not even bothering to come up with an excuse or a promise that she'd be back later. She slipped through the crowd, most of whom were too drunk to notice her at all, her eyes locked on the rapidly moving figure in front of her. She needed to catch up to him._

_"Hey!"_

_She didn't even break stride. Her target was almost in reach now._

_"Hey, wait! Arlene, come on!"_

_She rolled her eyes. She'd used her Arlene alias to get into this club, all so she could pursue someone who was intent on avoiding her. But the voice made her stop this time. She glanced behind her and saw one of the nameless boys she'd danced with throughout the night as she waited for the right chance to approach her target. She waved to him, winked, and took off again._

_He could chase after her if he wanted, but he'd have no luck catching her._

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"Hanna," Aria gasped, "where did you get these?"

"Where do you think?" Hanna replied grimly, picking up her phone and scrolling to the next message. She held it out, and Aria read the note with a sinking feeling in her chest.

**Looks like Mommy's got someone more important in her life now! Tell your soon-to-be stepsister… or I might tell her for you. –A**

Aria walked over to the teacher's desk and leaned against it, breathing those deep breaths her yoga instructor always got them to do before they started class. It didn't stop her feeling dizzy, but it slowed her heart down a bit. Hanna came and stood beside her, folding her arms and staring gloomily at the floor.

"Your dad," Hanna said after a while.

"And your mom," Aria replied, and then both girls sighed. Aria picked at a loose thread on her blouse. "Is that why you ran out of Spencer's the other day?"

"Yeah." Hanna reached into her bag and pulled out a stick of lip gloss, which she then smeared over her lips; it was very _Hanna_ to try to deal with confusing emotions by focusing on her appearance. And hey, sometimes it worked. "I wasn't sure I was going to tell you. I mean, you and your dad haven't had the best relationship lately, and -"

"Hey," Aria said, grabbing her friend's hand and squeezing it, "I'm glad you told me."

"Yeah, well, now we have to figure out what to do."

"Oh god." Aria turned and surveyed her reflection in the window; there were loose strands of hair everywhere and the mascara on one eye was slightly smudged. Maybe she should take a leaf out of Hanna's book. "We're going to have to do something. But, I mean, do we talk to them about it? What would we say?"

"'Hey Mom, are you dating my best friend's father?'" Hanna suggested.

Aria made a frustrated noise somewhere between a grunt and a groan. "Why is everything so complicated?" she complained. "As if we didn't have enough going on with school and all the other stuff –A's done to us and -"

She cut herself off. She'd been about to say 'and investigating Ali's death', but she didn't feel like getting into that now.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell anyone," Hanna said, not picking up on the fact that Aria had almost given herself away. "I mean, not right away. We can take a couple days out and just… think about it."

Relieved at not having to make an immediate decision, Aria quickly agreed. "And we shouldn't tell Spencer or Emily either," she added. "There's no use bothering them with this."

"Right."

They made an agreement not to bring this up again for at least two days, and then they went their separate ways. Consequently Aria turned up fifteen minutes late to class. She walked through the door, knowing there was no way she could be inconspicuous, and was surprised when the teacher took one look at her and then waved her on, inviting her to take a seat and not saying a word. Did she really look _that_ bad?

After school Aria was sitting in her car, drinking some god-awful coffee and trying to organise her thoughts, when her phone rang. By this stage she'd basically accepted that she was –A's new target, so every time her phone went off she assumed the worst. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw who it was.

"Matt," she said warmly. He'd seemed like a pretty decent guy, easy to talk to, definitely easy on the eyes. He was in her top ten people she wanted to talk to these days, which was strange given she'd only met him once. But maybe the less she knew someone, the safer she felt around them.

"Arlene," he greeted her, and she bit her tongue, feeling, for the first time, guilty about lying to him. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she replied. She watched a stray cat slink around the front of her car, its beady eyes fixed on a sparrow perched on a tree branch above its head. When Matt didn't reply, she figured it was her turn to speak. "Um, how are you?"

"I'm good," he said.

He sounded hesitant. Uncertain. And it made Aria intensely curious. Why would he be calling her?

He cleared his throat and went on. "Arlene, does… does the name Alison ring a bell to you?"

For a second there, Aria swore her heart stopped. She forgot how to breathe, think, move, speak. The silence stretched on.

"It does, doesn't it?" Matt pressed, on the verge of either excitement or a breakdown. "So you know who Vivian really was?"

Aria's hand fluttered to her heart; she could feel it beating again, double time to make up for its momentary cessation. "Uh…"

Somebody tapped on the window of her car. Her first thought was that her heart was bound to give out sometime soon. Her second was that she had to find a way to wrap things up with Matt. And her third was she was going to have to talk to Emily, who was now sliding into the passenger seat. Emily saw she was on the phone and mouthed _We need to talk._

"Arlene?"

Aria help up a finger to indicate that she needed a minute, and then turned her attention back to the phone call.

"Yeah, I'm here," she said weakly. She looked at Emily and then lowered her voice. "Listen, now's not a great time to talk about this."

"Right," he said. "Can we meet, then? Tomorrow, maybe? The same place we met last time?"

She tapped the steering wheel, thinking. "Sure," she said at last. "Say, five o'clock?"

"Sounds good," he said, and hung up without saying goodbye.

Normally that would make Aria annoyed – really, how hard is it just to be polite? – but today she found it a relief. She closed her phone and turned to see Emily watching her expectantly. She realized her friend wanted an explanation, but, unable to come up with one quickly enough, she just ignored the look she was getting.

"What's up?" she asked instead.

For all her eagerness to talk, Emily seemed to have trouble knowing where to start. She looked down, sliding her ring up and down her finger. Finally she looked up, but not at Aria; she kept looking straight out the window. "You know that night that we -"

"- said that we would never talk about?" Aria interjected.

"Yeah," Emily said. "I know we said that, but can we please just drop that rule for a second?"

The agitation in her voice made Aria relent. She nodded, starting up the engine. "Okay. But can we go somewhere else to talk?"

"Sure." Emily clipped her seatbelt in. "Where did you have in mind?"

Ten minutes later they pulled up outside the girls' favorite out-of-the-way diner, The Dig. They came here sometimes when they wanted somewhere private to talk. Plus the place did amazing fries. They got out of the car and made their way inside, drawing their coats tighter against the chill breezing sweeping across the parking lot. Once inside they settled themselves at their favorite booth, ordered a plate of fries to share, and then Aria clasped her hands on the table and watched her friend, waiting for her to speak.

"I remembered something," Emily admitted.

"You did?" They'd been waiting for Emily to remember more about that night in the hopes of figuring out who she'd been with, how she'd ended up at the cemetery – and how it all connected to –A. Maybe this was the breakthrough they needed. "What was it?"

"It wasn't about that night," Emily said. "I mean, it was, sort of."

"Em, just tell me," Aria coaxed. But almost as soon as she'd said it, she caught sight of someone over by the jukebox. That long brown hair and perfect posture looked familiar. She was so focused on watching that person that she almost missed Emily's reply.

"It wasn't about that night," she said. "It was about another night. A while ago. In this bar across town. The Night Spot?"

Aria's eyes snapped back to focus on Emily. The Night Spot? She hadn't been there - or at least, she'd never been there as _Aria_. It was, however, one of _Arlene's_ favorite hangouts.

"I didn't remember it before because I was pretty out of it that night," Emily went on, "but I've been working on some memory retention and recovery techniques with Dr Sullivan. It hasn't quite worked with… that _other_ night, yet, but I've been remembering pieces of other nights. I went to Night Spot with this girl I'd met at another club; we were dancing and drinking and having fun… and then I saw someone. Someone who looked a lot like you."

Aria was trying to pay attention to her, but she was now about ninety eight percent confident she recognized the girl sitting by the jukebox. And she was also reasonably sure that the girl had seen and recognized her too, but had made no effort to come over.

"And while I was there, I heard someone call that person something," Emily continued, watching Aria closely for a reaction. "It sounded like they called them Arlene."

Oh, damn it.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

_Despite all of the plans, plots, and schemes, sometimes my job gets a little boring. What people don't realize is that there's a lot of downtime in between carrying out the plans. I'm never too sure what to do during my free time. I always feel like I should be doing more, like if I have time to relax I should have time to further perfect my plans._

_But there's not much to do just yet, so I may as well switch off for a while. I pull out my copy of _Lolita_ and lean back, flicking to the first page. As I start to read, a part of my mind detaches from the book and starts to wonder what the liars are up to._

_We're in what I like to call the resting phase; not much of what I'm doing to them matters at all. Some of it's just for fun, some to keep the team members busy. I know the others are targeting someone else, and I don't think the girls even realize. It's interesting to note how the girls are so immersed in their own world that they're not putting the clues together. If they trusted each other more (which I've been carefully ensuring that they don't) they could pool their resources, collate their ideas, and work this whole thing out._

_If they tried working together they might even be able to figure out who's on the A-Team… part of me hopes that they will, because that would make this even more exhilarating. I'll admit, part of my is addicted to the thrill, to the sick pleasure that comes from getting away with this._

_But mostly I keep my eyes on the goal. Not long now and I'll be able to put my final plan into action. Once I've taken them down, I wonder how I'm going to spend my time._

_Oh, the possibilities._

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**So, I honestly believe that PLL is one of the nicest fandoms there is, and my readers/reviewers are some of the loveliest people out there. I cannot thank you enough for all your support.**

**Sgdp1261 - I know I love drama and tragedy, but in between bits of action I do like throwing in some of the more 'normal' scenes. I'm glad you liked it. And exactly, it would be incredibly weird for Aria and Hanna if their parents were dating, wouldn't it?**

**Runawaybaby555 - was not expecting such shock there haha. I really think they should have done more with the Byron/Ashley storyline in the show; I think I would maybe ship them because that scene they had during the blackout was pretty cute.**

**ihavealifeiswear - it's good to know I can still surprise people. I get worried that I'm too predictable, so thanks for the feedback. I think at this stage Hanna and Aria are still in shock... who knows, maybe they'd come around to the appeal of being stepsisters some day.**

**Me - aw, thank you so much. There's plenty more coming, and I'll be updating regularly, so definitely stay tuned.**

**Forever Courage - Aria will come clean eventually, although I can't guarantee it will be anytime soon... all the more reason for you to keep reading though, right? :p**

**insertnameherex - I'm glad I managed to surprise you. Twists and turns are so much fun to write, and it's great knowing the audience appreciates them. Your thoughts are similar to -A's this chapter... any guesses as to who -A is? ;)**

**As always, thanks for the support, I'd love to hear your theories/ideas, and I look forward to seeing you next chapter. :)**


	7. Lies and alibis

**All right guys, insertnameherex is -A, story's over now. :p But seriously, thank you for your review. I try not to start posting stories until I've finished writing them; that way I can update regularly. Glad it's appreciated. :)**

**ihavealifeiswear - thank you! I had way too much fun writing the '-A' parts, to be honest. One day I'd like to write an entire story from -A's perspective; that's actually what I'd intended to do with this one until I merged it with a couple of other ideas. So maybe I will write an anonymous -A story when I have time.**

**Forever Courage - Emily's definitely onto something, and this chapter will explain a bit more about the 'Arlene' thing. Be sure to let me know what you think.**

**Sgdp1261 - there's a lot going on in this chapter too. The show moves pretty quickly and packs a lot into a small amount of time, so I thought I'd try to stay true to that and add plenty of drama and suspense. I'm glad you're liking it, and thank you for being one of the nicest and most consistent reviewers I've ever come across.**

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_The girls were sitting in Ali's backyard, enjoying the last shreds of summer. Aria lay back in the deckchair, sipping her lemonade and listening to Emily and Hanna debate over whether they should go out for ice cream or froyo after this. She smiled to herself; she was sure the coming year would have plenty of moments like this. It was, as Ali kept excitedly exclaiming, going to be 'the year of Us'._

_"Fine," Emily said at last, too blissfully tired from the sunshine to argue further, "we'll go get froyo."_

_Hanna grinned, enjoying her victory._

_"Are you sure you need froyo, Hanna?" Ali said sweetly. "I hear it's pretty big on the calories."_

_Aria tried not to notice as Hanna's face fell._

_"Ali -" Spencer said, jumping as always to Hanna's defence. She was the only one who was daring enough to stand up to Ali, and she always did her best to defend them against Ali's attacks. She was rarely successful._

_"Do you have something to say, Spencer?" Ali asked pointedly._

_Although Aria wasn't sure what was going on between them, it made her feel anxious. There had been a lot of tension between Ali and each of the girls lately; she knew that hers stemmed from the fact that she and Ali were the only ones who knew about Mr Montgomery's affair, but she couldn't figure out what secrets Ali had with the other girls. And part of her wasn't sure she wanted to know._

_Spencer seemed to think about fighting back, but something stopped her. "No," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't have anything to say."_

_An uneasy peace settled over them, but Aria knew it wouldn't be long until another fight would break out. She just didn't know who it would be between._

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"So maybe that was her name?" Aria suggested, swallowing hard. She kept flip-flopping between wanting to tell her friends about her secret identity and wanting to keep it, well, secret. And right now she was so distracted by this other girl that she didn't feel like getting into it with Emily.

"Aria, I'm almost certain it was you," Emily said. "And at first I thought maybe someone had just got your name wrong, or you'd given someone a fake name or something… but the way you're acting now makes me wonder if there was another reason. You're kind of being all twitchy."

"I'm not being twitchy," she said, although she was. "And I swear I'm not just trying to change the subject, but – see that girl over there? By the jukebox? Do you think that's -?"

"Spencer?" Emily finished. "Yeah, I think it is."

"Should we go over and say hi?" Aria asked.

Emily looked like she was about to argue, to insist that they finish this conversation, but then she shrugged and stood up. "Sure."

Aria finished off the last couple of fries, and then they headed over to the girl. She looked up, startled, when they reached her table.

"H-hi," Spencer said, brushing some hair out of her eyes. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Just talking," Aria replied guardedly. It wasn't that she didn't trust Spencer – she did, with her life – but she was still reluctant to open up about Arlene, something she'd been hiding for years. She wasn't sure how Ali setting her up with this fake identity made sense in the bigger scheme of things, and until she was she knew what it meant, she wouldn't be ready to have a secret identity coming out party. "What about you?"

"I, um." Spencer blinked, seeming frazzled. "I'm here with Toby, actually. He just went to the bathroom. He'll be back in a minute."

"Oh." Aria looked at the single empty plate and the one half-finished drink and frowned.

"Well, I guess we should leave you to it," Emily said, although she too seemed a little uncertain. "Tell Toby I say hi."

Spencer nodded, and Aria and Emily left.

"Did she seem a little strange to you?" Emily asked as they climbed into the car.

Aria shrugged. "I guess?"

Neither of them knew what to say next, so they drifted into silence until they hit the main road. Then Emily brought them back to the conversation they'd been having in the diner.

"It was you, wasn't it? That night in the club?"

Aria didn't answer right away. She steered gently into the next lane, her eyes flicking between the rear-view mirror and the road in front of her. Then she looked at her hair in the mirror, tucking a few strands back into place, and applied another coat of lip gloss. Finally she turned to Emily. "Yeah," she admitted. "It was me."

"Why did that guy call you Arlene?"

"You know how it is," Aria said. "You meet a guy in a club, you tell him a fake name. I wasn't looking for anything more than that night."

For a second Emily looked like she was buying it, and then she shook her head as if to dislodge the idea. "Wait. You were there to hook up with random guys?"

"Uh, yeah." Aria knew it wasn't exactly a good defense, but it was probably safer than telling the truth – as long as Emily bought it.

"But what about Ezra? You were still with him, right?"

She really hadn't thought this plan through. Yes, she and Ezra had been together then. She would never have cheated on him. Her friends all knew she was madly in love with him. And that all made for one very unbelievable alibi.

"Fine." She pulled into the main street, searching for a place to park. She found one outside a little bookshop she sometimes went to so she could meet Ezra. A little boy walked past, holding into his mother with one hand and a balloon in the other. And on the other side of the street a woman jumped up from her table outside a café, threw a shredded flower onto the table, and stormed off from a very confused looking man. Aria sighed. "The truth is, I've been… investigating Ali's death."

Emily quirked her eyebrow up, confused. "Well, yeah. Haven't we all?"

"No – I mean yeah, but -" She took a moment to clasp her hands and try to stop them from shaking. She'd held onto this secret for so long that she didn't feel right sharing it, even with one of her closest friends. "I've been doing it by myself. Like, I met this guy the other day. Matt. He was a friend of Vivian's. And that night in the club, that was to meet someone Alison had mentioned once, this guy she'd had a brief thing for. I was hoping that I could talk to him about what had happened, maybe find out if he knew who killed her."

"And the fake name?"

"I don't know." Okay, so maybe she wasn't quite ready to tell the _whole_ truth yet. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was kind of going undercover, you know? I thought I should have a fake name."

Emily leaned back in her chair, watching the boy's balloon fluttering in the breeze. Her expression was unreadable.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked after a while, still watching the balloon.

"I – I'm sorry." Apologies seemed easier than explanations. "Most of what I came up with were dead ends. I didn't want to get you guys involved if it wasn't going to get us anywhere, you know? But now that you know, I guess I don't really have to hide it."

"Who were you talking to when I got in the car earlier?"

Aria fiddled with the car keys, pressing them into her palm and watching as her skin went from white back to pink. "Matt. Vivian's friend."

"And you're meeting him?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

"You're not going alone."

"Em -" she said beseechingly.

"No. No arguing. You're not going alone. Okay?"

"Em." Aria sat up straighter, her attention caught by a figure across the road. "Look."

The figure was walking out of an antique store, glancing down the street as if worried about being caught. In his arms was a small box wrapped in brown packaging, and he carried it like the contents were either fragile or valuable.

"Wait, that's -" Emily began.

"Toby," Aria confirmed. "But what's he doing here?"

Emily looked at her watch. "If he's just coming out of that store now, there's no way he could have been at the diner."

They both sat very still and quiet as the implications of this hit them like a sledgehammer. Spencer had lied to them. She had looked them in the eyes and told them she was with Toby, and here they had proof that she wasn't. What could she be hiding?

"We should talk to her," Emily suggested when the silence had dragged on for an unbearable amount of time.

"Yeah." Aria pulled out her phone and dialled the number with shaking fingers. She'd been half-expecting Spencer to decline the call, so when her friend answered on the second ring she was a little surprised. "Oh! Hey Spence."

"Aria," Spencer greeted her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Aria put the phone on speaker so Emily could hear. "Em and I were just going to go over to my place and watch a movie. Do you want to come?"

"I would, but I'm still out," Spencer replied without missing a beat.

"Oh." Aria paused. "Are you still with Toby?"

This time Spencer did hesitate, but only for a second. "Yeah. I'm with Toby."

"Okay," Aria said, trying not to jump to any conclusions. "Well, maybe some other time then?"

"Sure thing."

Aria and Emily stared at each other, not sure what to make of what had just happened.

"She lied to us," Emily said.

"Twice," Aria added. "Why would she do that?"

Emily shook her head, as clueless as Aria. Spencer had lied to them, making them think she was with Toby. What kind of a cover was that? And what could she possibly be covering _for_? And, more importantly, why was she keeping it from them?

The sound of Emily's phone jerked them out of their thoughts. Emily snatched it up, eager for any distraction. "Hey Hanna!" she said brightly. Then the brightness vanished and her eyes went dark. "Wait, say that again? What's going on?"

She listened intently for a minute, and Aria dug her nails into the steering wheel to deal with the urge to shout _What the hell is going on around here?_ She used to think her life was boring, but she'd trade that all for this mess in a heartbeat. There was only so much drama one high school girl could take.

"Where are you?" Emily asked. She listened, then nodded. "We'll be there in a second. Just wait, okay? Don't move."

She hung up quickly, shot a look at Aria, and dove out of the car. Startled, Aria shoved her keys in her pocket and jumped out after her. Emily was already halfway down the street, and Aria had to jog to catch up to her.

When she caught her, she asked breathlessly, "What's going on?"

Emily looked sideways at her but didn't slow down. She kept checking the names of the stores that flashed by her, evidently looking for something. "Hanna's in trouble," she said bluntly. "Or at least, she might be. She was at this interview for some fashion job, only the interviewer never showed up. But she thinks there's someone else in the place with her. She's hiding out in the supply closet."

Any other time Aria might have found the thought of Hanna hiding out in a supply closet amusing. But now things were too serious. If there was someone in there, someone who shouldn't be there… her money was on it being –A.

"Here!" Emily suddenly ducked into a shop to her left.

Aria glanced at the big banner – _Lisa's Style Studio_ – before she snuck in after Emily. The front door was closed, but the lock looked like it had been broken. Aria gulped. –A it was.

Inside the studio it was dark and eerily quiet. There were racks of designer clothes spread around the room randomly, but there were mannequins in short dresses and flashy skirts at even intervals on the perimeter of the room. An open door towards the back of the room gave them their next clue about where to go. They hurried through, making sure to leave the doors open behind them – they did not want to get trapped.

The next room was large and empty aside from a large desk along one side. And standing at that desk was a black-hooded figure, who spun around when they heard the girls enter. Aria blinked, her thoughts as slow as if they were moving through quicksand.

"Oh, crap," Mona muttered.

Her gaze flickered between the two of them, and then she looked back at the desk, which had open drawers she'd apparently been searching through. She slammed one of the drawers closed, hesitated, and then shot across the room. Aria felt rooted to the spot, but Emily was quick enough on the uptake that she made a grab for Mona, who dodged at the last minute and dashed through the door. It flew closed behind her and they heard the sounds of her pushing something up against it – probably a rack of clothes, which weren't that heavy but would make following her difficult anyway.

The girls stood in the empty room, staring at the closed door, mouths slightly open as their brains tried desperately to process what had just transpired. They were only compelled to move when they heard the sounds of someone moving around in the supply closet, and remembered why they'd come here to begin with.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

_I sit at my desk, filing my nails with a rainbow-patterned file my mother had given me for my thirteenth birthday. Today had not gone well. My plan had been simple enough, well laid out, and it would have worked… if I hadn't been interrupted. I hadn't realized how close Aria was; why is she always turning up exactly where I am? I'm going to have a to keep a closer eye on her from now on._

_I reach across the desk for my glass, only to find it depressingly empty. I stand up, rolling my neck to get rid of the cricks. I've been working so hard on this that sometimes I lose track of time, and only the aching of my joints reminds me how long I've been sitting in the same position._

_There are several bottles on the shelf, and I run my finger along them, pondering. Eventually I settle on the one with the most left in it – it's going to be a long night, after all. And I'm going to have to come up with some kind of excuse about where I've been. My absence tonight will not go unnoticed; I've been sneaking out a lot lately, and eventually somebody's going to catch on._

_But for now I just pour myself a drink, and, after a pause, pour another, take them back to my desk, and sit down again. Today may have been a near-miss, but tomorrow is going to be my day._

_Those bitches won't know what hit them._

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**So that was pretty intense, right? Any thoughts/theories?**


	8. Where's the fun?

**Sgdp1261 - thank you for your great review, as always. I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job. Your words mean more to me than I can even express (which, coming from a writer like me, says a lot), and your continued support and encouragement is much appreciated.**

**Runawaybaby555 - told you it was intense. Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you liked the chapter. I'm trying to keep a balance between nice friendship moments and A drama, so I hope I'm doing a good job. I also miss the Emily/Aria friendship , which is why I've tried to include some of it in here. **

**insertnameherex - your review made me laugh so much, thank you. As I've said I try to balance drama and humor, and I'm not always successful. This is set during season three; chapter one starts after 3x02. Sometimes I get ahead of myself though, so if anything is off/not true to the show I apologize. And it never hurts to declare your love. ;)**

**Forever Courage - thank you for the review. It really makes me happy to see people getting into the story, and I hope you enjoy the update.**

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_She caught up with him just as he was leaving. He was the whole reason she'd come to this club, the whole reason she'd been dancing with random guys and pretending to be Arlene. She'd come across his name in one of Ali's old diaries (apparently they'd had a fling one summer vacation) and managed to track him down through some persuasive use of her feminine charms and some almost-legal detective work, and now she was finally close enough to talk to him._

_"Hi!" she chirped, tapping him on the arm._

_He turned around, irritated, but his face changed when he saw her. "Hey," he purred._

_Resisting the urge to slap him, she batted her eyelashes instead. "You got a moment?"_

_She led him over to one of the corners, wondering how far she'd have to go to get answers. Usually a bit of flirting would do the trick, but if it came down to it… well, she'd do what she had to._

_After a few minutes of being as charming as she could, she steered the conversation to her purpose like a skilful sailor. "So you've done this before, huh?"_

_"Of course," he replied, his hand sliding lower._

_She pushed his hand away, then twined her fingers in his and brought his hand up to her mouth. She planted a delicate kiss there, just enough to keep him pliable. "What about somewhere tropical?" she went on. "A nice beach, say, in the summer…"_

_He pressed his lips to her ear. "Sounds lovely."_

_"Have you ever been with someone like this, at the beach?"_

_He pulled back a little, frowning at her quizzically. "What's this about?"_

_"I think you knew my friend," she says, keeping her voice light. "A couple summers ago, you guys had a thing."_

_"I've been with a lot of girls."_

_"You'd remember this one. She was blonde. Very pretty. Probably very charming. Went by the name of Alison."_

_He smiled, a devilish kind of grin, and she knew he recognized the name. "Why are you mentioning her? Do you think she'd want to join us?"_

_She sighed. He didn't know anything._

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

The courtyard was deserted at this time of morning – homeroom didn't start for another twenty minutes, which meant that everyone was desperately trying to get a few extra minutes to sleep, do their makeup, or hook up with their significant other in the janitor's closet (everyone always thought they were being so smooth hiding in there, but it was the least classy and most obvious make-out place in the school). Aria sat at one of the tables, her hands wrapped around her second cup of coffee for the day, watching the steam curl off into the air.

Her friends joined her one by one: first Emily, dressed in sweats and looking like she'd just gone on a morning run; then Hanna, immaculate as always, touching up her makeup and checking her reflection in her little portable mirror; and finally Spencer, carrying more textbooks than she had classes. Once they were all settled Hanna quickly explained to Spencer what had happened the previous afternoon. Spencer listened in incredulous silence.

"Mona was there?" Spencer echoed once Hanna had finished.

The blonde nodded in confirmation, and then shook her head in disgust. "What was she _doing_ there? Spying on me?"

"It didn't look like it," Emily said cautiously. "I think there was something in those drawers she wanted."

"Well did she get it?" Spencer asked, looking from Emily to Aria in horror. "If it was important enough for her to break in -"

"I don't think she got it," Aria said quickly. "I mean, she looked like she was in the middle of things when we got there. So maybe she got part of it, but I doubt she got all of it."

Spencer leaned back in her seat, looking relieved. "That's good at least."

"So Mona's found a way to sneak out of Radley," Emily said thoughtfully. "I don't know whether to be more concerned with what she's going to do with us or the slipping security standards at that place."

"I for one am way more concerned with what she's going to do to us," Hanna said, putting her mirror in her purse and looking at her friends with dismay and anger taking turns flitting across her face. "We know what she's capable of, and we know she wants to hurt us."

"So the question now is: what do we do about it?" Aria finished the last of her coffee and chucked the cup over her shoulder into the trash. She'd been aiming for a sort of nonchalance, or at least unconcernedness, but she had the feeling she was coming across as worried as she felt.

"We need to get more information," Emily said. She seemed agitated, and her eyes kept flicking to her watch like she had somewhere else to be. "But I don't know how we could do that. Talking to Mona seems out of the question, unless -"

Hanna shook her head slowly. "She hasn't said anything to me yet, but… well, I guess she was faking that. She's just playing crazy. And it looks like it's working."

Aria saw the darkness in Hanna's eyes and wanted to comfort her, but she knew that sorting out this thing with Mona had to come first. "So do you think you could try to get her to open up?"

Hanna chewed thoughtfully on her thumbnail. "I could try, I guess."

"What about whatever was in that stylist's office?" Emily reminded them. "We still don't know what that is, but it's probably important."

"Hanna could go back and look for it," Spencer suggested.

"Uh-uh." Hanna shook her head, her perfect blonde curls bouncing. The thought of going back to the studio had her thoroughly spooked. "I am _not_ going back there."

"It's okay." Aria reached over and grabbed her hand comfortingly. "You don't have to go back there, Han. I can see if I can find a way in."

Hanna squeezed her hand, offering her a smile. "Thanks."

"So Hanna will try to talk to Mona, and Aria will try to see what she was after," Emily summarised. "What about you and me, Spence?"

Spencer looked at her, tilting her head. "Is there anything else we need to be working on? Has –A sent anyone else any messages?"

Hanna shot Aria a glance. The dark-haired girl considered, and then dipped her head slightly. It was time to tell them.

"The other day," Hanna said, "-A sent me a photo."

She handed her phone over to Emily and Spencer, who stared uncomprehendingly at it for a few seconds before it clicked. Spencer blinked, like she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing, and Emily's hand flew to her mouth in shock.

"Your mom," Emily said, looking at Hanna. She switched her gaze to Aria and added, "And your dad."

The girls nodded, unsure what to say. They were still adjusting to this themselves. Although it definitely wasn't the strangest couple in Rosewood – if they even _were_ a couple – it was still weird.

"What are you going to do?" Spencer asked.

"Talk to them about it, I guess," Aria replied, her shoulders slumping. The thought of confronting her father about a possible relationship with Mrs Marin was not inviting. Hanna looked about as thrilled as she felt.

"Yeah." Hanna looked away, clearly uncomfortable about this too. "I guess I'll do that this afternoon."

There seemed no more to say on that topic, at least not without making Aria or Hanna even more unhappy, so Aria turned to Spencer and said, "Spence, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?" Spencer looked at Emily and Hanna, apparently wondering if they were in on this.

"Yesterday, when we saw you in the diner," Aria started, ignoring Emily's stop-right-there look, "we know you lied."

Spencer went pale. "Lied? About what?"

"We saw Toby right after we saw you," Aria explained. "And he was nowhere near the diner."

"We're not mad at you," Emily hastened to add. "We're just confused. You know you can tell us anything, right?"

"I know." Spencer didn't quite seem able to meet their eyes. "I just didn't want to worry you."

"Worry us?" Aria repeated. If there was ever a phrase that would ensure she worried, that was it.

"Yeah. I figured if you thought I was with Toby, you'd be happier than if you knew the reason I was really there."

"Which was?" Emily prompted.

Spencer suddenly seemed to find her bag interesting; she fiddled with the straps, tightening and loosening them, all the while refusing to look at her friends.

"Spence?" Aria pressed.

At last Spencer looked up. She met each of their eyes, took a deep breath, and admitted, "I was there to meet –A."

The words hung in the air for a moment while everyone processed them. Then there was a babble of exclamations of surprise: 'What? Why? What happened?' (that was Emily), 'Spencer, why didn't you tell us?' (Aria), 'Are you _insane_?' (that last one from Hanna, who had all the subtlety of a hand grenade).

"This is why I didn't tell you guys!" Spencer burst out, seeming equal parts frustrated and remorseful. "I knew you'd all worry about me and want to come with me, and I didn't want that. –A said to meet them _alone_. I thought…"

"You thought what, Spencer?" Hanna said, concern making her voice harsh. "Maybe you could go to the diner, have a quick cup of coffee and a nice conversation with the person who's been _torturing_ us?"

"It's not like that," Spencer protested. "I knew it was going to be dangerous, but I thought I could handle it."

Seeing that Hanna was poised for a sharp reply, Aria quickly stepped in. "Guys, chill. Spencer, what happened? Did –A show up?"

Hanna folded her arms and sat back, clearly not finished with the topic. Spencer shook her head.

"No. I guess seeing you guys there scared them off."

A horrible thought occurred to Aria. She tried to keep it to herself, but apparently her face was more expressive than she was aware of; the others all turned to her, raising eyebrows and looking confused.

"What is it, Aria?" Emily asked.

"I just…" She rubbed at a stain on the table, averting her eyes from her friends. "What if –A thinks that Spencer told us she was meeting them? And –A, whoever it is, thinks Spence was setting them up?"

"You could be in danger," Emily said, turning to Spencer with wide eyes.

"What else is new?" Spencer replied with a wry smile. Noting that her friends didn't seem satisfied, she went on, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But now you know, and we can deal with this together – and later."

The ringing bell almost drowned out her words, and effectively ended the conversation. Aria felt horrible for doubting Spencer; they were, and had always been, on the same side. But this whole thing with –A had made her so paranoid she'd even doubted her best friend. She also felt a twinge of guilt – she wasn't the only one going off on her own to investigate. She should tell the others about Arlene, but there never seemed to be a right time.

As they got up to go their separate ways, Emily grabbed Aria's arm and held her back. Aria watched as Hanna and Spencer disappeared into the building, then turned to Emily.

"We're still on for this afternoon, right?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. We're meeting him at the diner at five," Aria said.

"Great. I'll see you there."

Emily hurried off to homeroom, leaving Aria standing by herself. She looked around the courtyard, feeling unnervingly like someone was watching her. She almost expected to get a text from –A, but none came. Somehow that put her even more on edge. By the time she scurried into her homeroom her skin was crawling. It felt like –A was always watching.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

_"That was disappointing."_

_I nod, pulling my hair up into a loose ponytail. It definitely was. They're just going to talk about it? Like calm, rational adults? Where's the fun in that? There's no drama, no angst, no tears or tantrums. There's no point._

_"So I suppose we need a new plan," I say. "Something… shocking."_

_"I have just the thing." The figure who'd been lurking in the shadows in the corner of the room steps forward. "I got what you wanted."_

_He places the box on my desk and I open it, peering inside. A smile spreads across my face._

_"It's perfect," I tell him. "We know that at least one of the girls is going to go back to the stylist's – and where there's one, there's usually more. They thought the mission was to try and steal something from the drawers. They didn't realize that we were trying to put something there. And now when they go back in this time, we'll have this -" I gesture to the box "- waiting for them."_

_The other people in my team have been listening with rapt attention. Now they nod, agreeing with my plan._

_And why shouldn't they? By the time this is all over, those girls are going to pay for every single thing they've done wrong. Justice – and revenge – are going to hit them full-force. And I'll be the one wielding the hammer._

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**So we've had a few guesses as to who -A is: Alison, Matt, Emily, Mona, Spencer. Any other ideas? Remember that it's more than one person; the bits in italics are just one of the member's POVs. I love love love hearing your theories, so if you have an idea please do share. And don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. :)**


	9. Playing Nancy Drew

**Hey everyone! Quick note for anyone who's also reading my story 'Flaws of Attraction' - once I get to 100 reviews on that I've decided that I'm going to post an extra chapter, so you may well get two in one day. You're welcome. ;)**

**A/N for this story is at the end of this chapter. Enjoy. :)**

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_Aria was heading back home after visiting her dad at Hollis, unwrapping a sandwich she hadn't had time to eat yet, when she caught sight of Alison. She paused, sandwich halfway to her mouth, and watched as Alison crept behind a tree and peered around it. Aria glanced around, but she couldn't see anything unusual; just college kids hanging out, professors talking in small groups as they walked to their offices, a mother feeding a squealing toddler. None of it explained why Alison looked so… intent._

_Although she knew she was going to regret it, Aria also knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't at least try to figure out what was going on. She wrapped her sandwich back up and put it in her bag, walking slowly over to Alison._

_"Hey," Aria said. She'd thought she was talking softly, but Alison jumped like she'd shouted in her ear._

_"Shh," Alison hissed, dragging Aria behind the tree with her._

_"Ali!" Aria squeaked. "What's going on?"_

_Her friend smiled at her, but didn't answer. She just motioned for Aria to be silent and then turned back to whatever she was so intent on watching. Aria tried to look too, but she couldn't find a way to get a good view and be discreet at the same time. She turned away, waiting for Ali to be done with whatever this was, so she could ask her about it._

_But Alison wasn't in the mood for questions. She suddenly stiffened, her eyes lighting up, and muttered, "I knew it!"_

_"What -" Aria started, but Ali had already grabbed her hand and was leading her away._

_Aria shot a look back over her shoulder, trying to see what had produced such a reaction, but everything still looked normal. So maybe she wouldn't sleep tonight._

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Aria looked up when the bell above the door jingled and saw Emily hurrying toward her, hood drawn low over her face to stop the icy wind. She sat down across from her, ordered a coffee, and blew on her hands to warm them up. Aria nodded at her in greeting, then went back to the notebook in front of her. She had a history test tomorrow, and she had to find some time to study in between all this investigating and interrogating.

"Sorry I'm late," Emily said, seeming even more distracted that she had that morning. These days it seemed like she was always rushing around, always running on caffeine and nervous energy, but it didn't look like she was getting anything done – or nothing that Aria could see, at least. She made a note to ask her about it at a more opportune time. "I had –"

"It's fine, Em," Aria interrupted, gesturing to the notebook. "I have a test tomorrow, so -"

"Oh!" Emily gasped. "Sorry."

She let her work in silence; the only time she said anything after that was to thank the waitress who brought over her coffee. The time slipped by quietly, and Aria was startled when she finished her chapter and looked at the clock. It was five twenty three.

"He's late," Aria said unnecessarily.

"Are you sure he's coming?"

She nodded. "This is where and when we said to meet. Maybe he -"

The door jingled, and a second later Matt was sliding into the seat beside her. He looked curiously at Emily, who gave a tiny wave.

"Hi," Matt said to Aria. "Thanks for meeting me."

"Thanks for calling." She dipped her head at Emily and added, "This is Emily. She was a friend of Vivian's too."

"Vivian?" Matt raised his eyebrows.

"I mean Alison." Aria was still confused about this whole situation. How did he know who Vivian really was? Had he known her as Alison as well?

"You probably have a lot of questions," Matt went on.

Aria nodded, rubbing a coffee stain on the table. She had so many questions she didn't even know which one to start with.

"I have a few of my own, actually. Like, what's your real name?"

She hesitated, biting her lip. Then she said, "It's Aria."

"Aria, huh?" He leaned back, giving her the same kind of look she'd given that pea plant they'd raised in biology last year. Their task had been to grow the plant from a seed and record its growth over the quarter. Hers had ended up twice as big as she'd hypothesized, and she hadn't been sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yeah. I can show you my driver's licence if you don't believe me?"

For a moment she thought he was going to insist on it, but then he just smiled. "No, it's fine. Aria. I like that. It's a pretty name."

"Thanks." Had he really just wanted to get her real name? Surely there was more to this meeting. And sure enough, he cleared his throat and started to explain what he really wanted.

"After you talked to me about Vivian – Alison – I started thinking. That girl I told you about, Taffy? I think Alison had caught her out on something. I don't know what it was, but it sounded pretty serious. She kept threatening to go to the police or something, and I'm not sure if she did… but even the threat might have been enough to get her killed."

"So you think Ali knew something Taffy didn't want her to know?" Aria asked, trying to keep up.

"Wait," Emily interrupted. "Who's Taffy?"

"She was a friend of Ali's," Aria explained quickly. "We don't know her real name. But they were fighting a lot, and it sounds like she could have killed her."

Matt nodded, seeming satisfied with her explanation. "And there's more. I think Alison had done something herself. She wouldn't say what it was, and I didn't press her for information. But it sounded pretty bad. Like, whatever Alison had on Taffy, she couldn't use it because then Taffy would use what _she_ had on Alison."

"So maybe one of them was blackmailing or threatening the other," Aria mused. If they could find out who Taffy was, they could finally figure out who really killed Ali. "Do you know anything else that could help?"

He spread his hands wide, indicating that he was fresh out of information. "That's about all I could come up with," he said apologetically. "But I thought, since you're busy being Nancy Drew and everything, you might want to know."

"Wait." Aria frowned. "Say that again?"

He looked confused. "I said I don't know anything else, and if you want to play Nancy Drew…"

She'd heard that phrase somewhere recently. She scratched her head, thinking, and then it came to her. "You wouldn't happen to know a guy called Jason, would you?"

"Alison's brother?" Matt asked. "Yeah. That's actually how I met Alison."

"You told me you met her at a bookstore," Aria reminded him.

"No," Matt said calmly. "I told you I met _Vivian_ at a bookstore. That was the first time I knew she had some kind of undercover thing going on, but I'd known her for a while before that."

She tried to find a hole in his story, but it seemed to fit. He'd been Jason's friend, he'd met Alison, he'd found out she had a secret identity called Vivian, and he'd played along. "So why did you talk to me about her as if you didn't know she was Alison?"

He shrugged. "You were the one who said you were a friend of Vivian's. I had to be sure you knew her as Alison too before I brought it up."

"Oh."

Matt looked at his watch, then out the window. "Now, if there's nothing else you guys want to ask me, I should go. I have soccer practice."

"You play?" Aria asked, surprised.

He shook his head, his eyes twinkling. "No, I coach. The local junior team. You should come watch a game sometime."

Then he winked and was gone. Aria stayed where she was, watching a single ant cross the table. It would stop every few paces, like it was looking for something, and then with a little ant-sized-shrug it would keep going. Had Matt been _flirting_ with her?

"I should probably go too," Emily said after a while, tactfully ignoring whatever had been going on between Matt and Aria. "But thank you for letting me tag along to this."

"Like I had a choice," Aria snorted, but she wasn't mad. She was actually kind of glad she'd had moral support for this meeting. Even though they weren't sure what any of it meant, anything new they learned about Alison's death sent shivers down Aria's spine.

Emily hesitated, halfway out of her seat. "We should tell the others about this, though," she said.

Aria exhaled deeply. "I know," she said slowly. "But can we figure that out later, right? I kind of have another conversation I need to focus on tonight."

Emily nodded sympathetically. "Of course. Good luck, okay?"

"Thanks." She watched Emily leave, feeling her heart sink to her shoes. Now that she didn't have to worry about meeting Matt, she was forced to turn all her attention onto the next big conversation she needed to have: talking to her father about his possible relationship with Hanna's mom. Because _that_ was going to be fun.

The door creaked closed after her, filling her with an inexplicable sense of dread. She made her way slowly down the hall, her eyes drifting over the photos hanging from the wall. Her dad had taken down all the of the ones of her mother, aside from one. It had been a couple years ago, when they'd gone on vacation to the beach. Her dad had set the camera on timer, but he'd mistimed it and ended up having to dive into the frame so he didn't miss it. Aria and Mike were playfully wrestling on the sand; she had him in a headlock and was messing up his hair. And their mother was just sitting there, calmly sipping some kind of tropical juice that had come with a wedge of pineapple. And all four of them had crazy smiles on their faces, like this was the best moment they'd ever had.

She turned away from the photo, her heart aching slightly, and went into the kitchen. As predicted, her dad was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. He glanced up when she walked in, muttered a greeting, and then kept reading. Aria was tempted to just keep walking up the stairs and to her room, and pretend that she didn't need to talk to him. But she'd promised Hanna she'd do this. She dumped her bag on the floor and slid into the seat across from her father.

After a few minutes of silence passed, during which she chipped off her peeling nail polish, her dad looked up again, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "You okay, pumpkin?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said automatically, and then shook her head. "I mean no. I mean, I don't know."

He closed the newspaper, took his glasses off, and started to clean them with the sleeve of his shirt. Then he sort of squinted at her until it occurred to him to put his glasses back on. "What do you mean?"

She'd rehearsed this moment a hundred times in the drive over. She'd pictured every kind of reaction from him: indignation, denial, amusement, shock, anger. She'd imagined every possible way to ask him: dropping hints, asking outright, even miming it out. But now her tongue felt strangely heavy and her throat too tight. She pulled a bottle of water from her bag and took a big gulp. Her father never took his eyes off her.

"Are you dating Hanna's mom?" she blurted out suddenly, surprising both herself and her father, whose eyebrows shot up so high she was amazed they didn't fly off his face.

"Wh-what?" he stammered.

That was probably proof enough, but she hadn't come this far to give up so easily. "You and Hanna's mom," she said. "Are you two dating?"

"No," he said, looking confused – and concerned, like he thought Aria might have a fever or something. "What makes you think that?"

"I, um." She should really stop rushing into plans without thinking them through. "I heard that you guys kissed."

He peered at her over his glasses, and she had the strange feeling he was sizing her up, figuring out whether or not to tell her the truth. "We did kiss a couple of weeks ago," he admitted at last, and Aria wasn't sure whether to be relieved or freaked. "But it was just once. I don't think it's going to happen again."

Relief it is then. "Okay," she said. Just one kiss? That wasn't so bad, right?

Her dad seemed uncomfortable; apparently talking with his teenage daughter about his secret love life had not been on his agenda for the day. He cleared his throat, shoving his glasses back up. "Is that all you wanted?" he asked gruffly.

She nodded. "That's it," she squeaked, and then she fled to her room.

Aria flopped face-down on her bed and lay there for as long as it took to erase from her mind the image of her father and Hanna's mother kissing. It had just happened once. There was no need to mention it, or to think of it, _ever_ again. After she'd finally worked the image out of her mind, she called Hanna. It was a brief conversation; Hanna was as freaked by this as she was. Hanna confirmed that it had just been a one-time thing, according to her mother at least. They agreed to never mention it again, said their farewells, and hung up.

Despite how weird the whole situation had been, Aria felt relieved. Her father had been honest with her, he wasn't dating Hanna's mother, and that seemed to be the end of it. If only things always worked out so well.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

_Well, that was a bust. Aria hadn't freaked out over her father. She'd just gone and talked to him about it. Really? What happened to jumping to conclusions, hurling accusations, and freaking out? These girls used to be so much more amusing._

_Still, I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve. I open the box again, checking the contents are undamaged. It's going to be a nice little surprise for when the girls go to investigate the stylist's. Not only will they not find what they're looking for, they'll find my little gift to them. I pick up a pen and quickly scribble a note, then stick it in the object inside the box. The message is clear, and if they don't listen to it, I'm going to have to find another way to get it into their heads… maybe with a hammer._

_But now that plan is taken care of, I can turn my attention to other things. I've got big plans for these girls. Just wait and see._

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**insertnameherex - oh my goodness, thank you so much. Reading your reviews always makes me smile so much. Although since you've figured out I'm -A I MAY have to kill you... kidding. I love you. ;)**

**Sgdp1261 - you're totally on the ball, and I love how you're trying to put the clues together; I'd always intended this story to be a bit of a puzzle, and I was hoping the audience would try to put the pieces together. I'm not saying you're right, but I'm loving your theories/thoughts. :p And thank YOU for always reviewing.**

**Forever Courage - see, this is what I like about the show: you're always second-guessing your thoughts, trying to put everything together, wondering what's clues and what's background noise. I tried to incorporate that into this story, so it's great to see people like you trying to figure everything out. Keep the guesses coming.**

**ihavealifeiswear - thanks for the review. And in response, here's a little teaser from the next chapter: "**Spencer wordlessly shook her head, as if the thought... was too awful to contemplate." **See you next time. ;)**

**Little spoiler here guys: next chapter one member of the A-Team will be revealed. And the more reviews I get the quicker I'll update, so get reviewing. ;)**


	10. Lay down your swords

**A/N at the end of the chapter. You'll see why when you get there. In the meantime, enjoy.**

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_"Sorry I'm late," Aria said breathlessly, dumping her bag on the ground and sliding into the seat beside Alison. They'd agreed to meet at the diner at four, and although it was only ten past Aria was apprehensive; she was never sure whether Ali would be in the mood to laugh things off or whether she would use them as an excuse to attack her. "I had to drop Mike off to lacrosse training."_

_"That's okay," Alison said, glancing at Spencer. "Family comes first."_

_Spencer bit her lip and gave Ali a hard stare. Aria busied herself flicking through the menu, and Emily and Hanna followed suit. Nobody said anything else until the waitress arrived. Hana placed her order last, and she looked at Ali as if for permission._

_"I'll just have a burger and some fries," Hanna said tentatively._

_Ali cleared her throat. "Are you sure, Hanna?" she asked sweetly._

_Hanna froze, and Aria could see her trying to hold back tears. They all jokingly teased each other at points, but nobody besides Alison ever mentioned Hanna's weight. She was way too sensitive about it, and teasing her about it crossed the line between friendly mocking and being outright cruel. Aria reached under the table and squeezed Hanna's hand. Her friend gave her a surprised look, but then her features hardened and she set her jaw, looking Ali right in the eye._

_"Yes," she said clearly. "I'm sure."_

_Ali kept watching Hanna even after the waitress had gone. Normally Hanna wouldn't stand up to her, and it seemed to bother her that she'd done it this time._

_"You should watch your step, Hanna," Ali said, stirring her strawberry maple milkshake with her straw. "If you step on a crack it might not be your mother's back that breaks."_

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Throughout first period Spanish the next day, Aria found her mind wandering. She'd been able to lay the matter of her father and Hanna's mother to rest, but that didn't mean she was suddenly in the clear. There was always something else to worry about, some reason to watch her back. And Ali's warning, more than ever, was weighing on her. Aria herself had kept things from her friends; it wasn't fair for her to assume that her friends never kept things from her. It may have just been the fact that she was nervous, but she felt like her friends were acting a little strange. Hanna seemed more distant and, if possible, even more flaky than usual; Emily was skipping classes, and she always seemed like her head was somewhere else; and the fact that Spencer had hidden her meeting with –A from them still made her feel unsettled.

But she couldn't bring up her concerns with her friends, at least not all together. And she would feel much too sneaky if she spoke about each of the girls with the others. So she made the decision to keep her doubts to herself. At lunch when her friends pointed out that she was unusually quiet, she brought up the one topic on which they were all on the same page.

"I'm just wondering about… the other day," Aria said, her eyes tracking a bunch of guys who were kicking a ball back and forth between them. One of the boys missed by an inch, but he'd raised his leg so high for the kick that he ended up falling over. As he hit the ground Aria was struck by the sudden urge to giggle. She bit her lip and turned back to her friends. "Do we know anything more about how Mona got out of Radley?"

"She hasn't been released," Hanna informed them, twirling a strand of spaghetti around on her fork. "I went to see her this morning. She wasn't pretending to be catatonic or anything anymore, but she wouldn't talk to me. She wouldn't even look at me. I stayed for as long as I could, but she didn't say a word the whole time. I'm sorry, guys."

"It's okay," Spencer said reassuringly. "It was always a long shot that she'd talk anyway."

"Yeah," Emily said. "You did your best. But the question is, what do we do now?"

Although she knew she was probably going to regret it, Aria also knew there was one thing they needed to focus on now. "I think we should try to find out what was in the style studio," she said. "It was important enough for Mona to break out of Radley to try to steal, so I think we should get to it first."

"Chances are Mona's going to try again," Hanna pointed out. "So the sooner we get to it, the better."

Aria sighed. "This is going to be one of those days where I end up doing something illegal, isn't it?"

The thought didn't actually bother her as much as it should have. She'd broken into the school, into offices, into yards, and she was almost becoming accustomed to it.

"Someone should go with you," Spencer suggested. "I mean, if you want, I could -"

She broke off as her cell buzzed. It was second nature to be suspicious of any texts these days, especially if they were all together. At least all of their phones hadn't gone off, which would be cause for instant alarm. Aria instinctively looked around, just in case it was –A. When she turned back to Spencer, her friend's face had fallen and she was staring at the screen with a sort of mute horror.

"Spence?" Aria asked. "What is it?"

"I -" Words seemed to fail her and she just shook her head slowly, handing her phone over to her friends, who crowded around to read it.

**Your little boy toy's getting too close to the truth. Break it off with him or I'll break something of yours – like a limb, maybe. Or one of his. –A**

"Oh god." Aria felt her heart breaking for her friend. All of their relationships had suffered because of –A; this wouldn't be the first time Spencer had been forced to break up with Toby to keep him safe. But every time was more difficult, more heartbreaking. And there was always the knowledge that this time it could be permanent.

Spencer wordlessly shook her head, as if the thought of breaking up with Toby was too awful to contemplate.

"Oh, Spence," Emily said gently, pulling her friend into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"That sucks," Hanna agreed gloomily. "What are you going to do?"

"What choice do I have?" Spencer took her phone back and read the message again, and again, and again, until Aria snapped the phone shut to stop her obsessing. "I'm going to have to break up with Toby. It's the only way to keep us both safe."

Aria frantically searched her mind for something comforting to say. But she couldn't think of anything suitable for the situation. Saying 'It'll get better' or 'You'll get through this' felt not only untrue but deliberately dishonest. She had no way of knowing things would be okay; in fact, with all that had happened lately, she was becoming more and more confident that things were _not_ going to be okay.

"I need to go." Spencer shot up from her seat, grabbed her bag, and started walking off.

Aria shot a look at the other girls, then dashed after her. She caught up with her just outside the main building, gently touching her arm. Spencer jumped like she'd been electrocuted.

"Are you okay?" Aria asked without thinking. That was a stupid question. Of course Spencer wasn't okay. "I'm sorry. Forget I asked. But just… we're worried about you."

"Don't be." Spencer shrugged off Aria's hand and her concern in a single gesture. "I'm fine. Everything's peachy. I'll just go break up with the love of my life."

"Spence -"

"Don't. I'll just – I'll talk to you later."

Before Aria could respond, Spencer slipped through the doors and got lost in the crowd of people surging down the halls. Aria stood there, feeling confused and helpless, until the bell rang and Hanna and Emily came up to her.

"How is she?" Emily asked.

"She's…" She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just shook her head.

"We should go and visit her after school," Hanna said. None of them shared her afternoon classes, so unless they saw her in the halls they wouldn't get a chance to talk to her until after school.

The other girls nodded.

"But right now, I'm late for class," Hanna added, already on her way through the doors. "See you guys later?"

"-A is really starting to piss me off," Aria muttered. "I'm going to find out who's helping Mona, and what they're planning, and I'm going to stop them."

"We," Emily corrected. "_We_ are going to stop them."

Aria felt a surge of affection for her friend. "You up for a little breaking and entering?"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

The rest of the day passed quickly. After school Aria met up with Emily and Hanna, and they drove over to Spencer's together. Melissa let them in, and they made their way up to her room. Aria hesitated at the door, uncertain what she was going to find on the other side. If Spencer had already broken up with Toby, she could very well be a mess. And if she hadn't, then she would probably still be a mess.

Spencer was sitting cross-legged on her bed, a kind of vacant look in her eyes. She was wearing sweats, which was never a good sign, and she'd taken off all of her makeup. Her friends approached her hesitantly, and she looked up and tried to smile; it was a sad imitation, though, and it made Aria's heart ache.

"Hey," Aria said, sitting down beside her. Hanna and Emily settled down on the other side, and for a few moments there was silence. Aria looked around the room. All traces of Toby were gone; photos, gifts, cards. The only thing left was the rocking chair he'd made Spencer, but she'd covered that with a blanket. Any reminder of him, of what they'd had and what she'd lost, was too painful.

"How'd he take it?" Hanna asked.

Spencer blinked, as if she'd forgotten they were there. "He was confused, mostly. I think he was angry too. But… it's better this way, right?"

Aria rubbed circles on Spencer's back; a role reversal from when she'd nearly been hit by the car. She wanted to be able to comfort her friend, to take away her pain, but the most she could do was just be there for her. It didn't feel like enough, but at least it was something.

They stayed with Spencer for as long as she would let them, but eventually she curled up on her bed and told them she wanted to be alone. It hurt to see her so vulnerable, so broken, but they understood that forcing their presence on her would only make things worse.

"We'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Emily said as they got up to leave.

"And in the meantime call or text if you need us," Hanna said. "We know this is hard for you, and we want to be here for you… you just have to let us."

Spencer nodded, too drained to even attempt to smile. "Thanks, guys."

As they left, Aria forced herself not to dwell on the sight of Spencer – bright, bubbly, down-to-earth Spencer – looking frail and fragile. She had other thing to focus on now, after all. And maybe if today went well, they'd be able to give her some good news. They said farewell to Hanna, and then Aria climbed into Emily's car. Emily slid into the driver's seat, stuck her keys into the ignition, and then hesitated.

"Are you sure we want to do this?"

Aria contemplated, but then she realized she'd already made up her mind. She nodded, watching as Emily started the car. If this could help them get to the bottom of the –A mystery, it was worth a little illegal activity.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

_"How do you feel?" I ask._

_"Relieved," comes the reply. "I don't have to pretend anymore, and I don't have to hang around any of the girls. That will make things easier."_

_ "I have a feeling the girls won't heed our little warning so I'll definitely need you around," I muse. "They're determined, I'll give them that much."_

_"Irritatingly stubborn, more like."_

_"Yeah, well." I shrug. To be honest, I kind of like the fact that they're all so stubborn. If they'd given up earlier, it would have been much less fun. The way they keep fighting, investigating, thinking they can win… it amuses me. Sometimes it's challenging, but I rise to it every time. I stay a step ahead of them, and my reward is that, if my plan works, I'll be able to put all this behind me and stop having to watch my back. "You've got more free time now," I go on. "We'll have to put it to good use."_

_"What did you have in mind?"_

_I lean back, considering. There are so many tasks left to do – I haven't got long until the final plan will come into action. There are only a few of us, and we need to get everything done. Time to share the workload._

_"Here you go," I say at last, holding out a slip of paper. "You can go and pick these up."_

_"Right. I'll be back soon."_

_He pauses at the door, flashing me a smile. "I love your plan, by the way."_

_I smile back. "Thanks, Toby. Now go on. We have a lot of work to do."_

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**So, thank you for all the great reviews last chapter. And shoutout to Sgdp1261 for correctly guessing that Toby was part of the A-Team (although I swear you're just suspicious of everyone... which, to be fair, is probably a smart move in Rosewood) - any ideas what's in the box he collected? Or what -A's planning next?**

**ihavealifeiswear - you will find out who Taffy is eventually. It's an existing character, I'll give you that much. But they may or may not be involved with -A, or even with Ali's death.**

**Runawaybaby555 - your excitement in your reviews makes me so happy. I like Matt too; he's a fun character. But then again I pretty much like everyone, including all of the A-Team, so that doesn't mean much. I'm having a lot of fun channelling my inner 'A', so I'm glad you like it.**

**insertnameherex - I like to think that the love/hate is kind of part of the PLL package. Every episode you get more questions and maybe an answer or two if you're lucky. But by the end of this story most of the questions will be answered, so stay tuned.**

**Forever Courage - it's Rosewood, anyone could be -A. And seriously, who wouldn't make a move on Aria? ;) I'm not really a big Byron fan, but I like to think he and Ashley would have been good together.**

**Okay. Now for the next chapter, I am unashamed to say that it is one of my favorites. It took a long time to write, but I think it turned out pretty well. It has some Emily/Aria friendship moments, as well as the execution of a fun little -A plan. It will be up soon, of course, so I'll see you all there. ;)**


	11. Don't lose your head, girls

**Apologies for all the Spoby hearts I broke. Had to happen, guys.**

**Sgdp1261 - it's probably right for you to be suspicious of me. For all you know I AM A and I'm just trying to throw you off my scent. ;) You find out what's in the box this chapter, so please let me know what you think. A may very well try to kill someone (they may even succeed...), so you'll just have to keep reading to find out. And feel free to ramble, I enjoy it. I really love long reviews and it's fun seeing everyone getting so into the story.**

**insertnameherex - I ship Emily with just about everyone too, including Paige (who I hated at first but she's kind of grown on me). Perhaps Toby's betrayal might leave Spencer free to pursue Aria (except, you know, Ezra's still around and all). Ahh, Sparia, my heart. I usually feel weird seeing any of the girls with an OC, but I don't know, I feel like Matt's pretty awesome. And I totally didn't deliberately ignore the age question, I legitimately forgot about it. Since you actually asked the question in reviews for 'Flaws of Attraction' I'll answer it when I update that one. ;)**

**Forever Courage - great guesses for the A-Team. Not telling you if you're right or wrong, but you will find out eventually, so keep reading (although I'm assuming you would anyway, given how consistently you review).**

**ihavealifeiswear - I'm really sorry. I'm actually quite a Spoby fan myself, but you guys know me; I'm not above tearing apart beloved couples. It's all part of the fun. ;) Some of the flashbacks will be explained in this story, but others are kind of just background to show tension between the girls and such. HOWEVER, I am very very tempted to write a sequel to this story (in fact I've already started planning it in my head), so if this one does well enough I'll do that, and it will go into more depth about some of the things mentioned in the flashbacks, like Hanna's insecurities, as well as some of the stuff that's unexplained in the story. Make sense?**

**Okay. Long A/N, sorry. You guys are just so lovely that I want to respond to everything you say. So, this chapter took me ages to write and I kept procrastinating from it, but I think it actually turned out pretty well. Let me know what you think. :)**

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_"__No, I know that."_

_The voice made Aria stop. She'd been on her way upstairs to Ali's room, having gone down to the kitchen to get them some sodas. Now she could hear Ali pacing in her room, deep in conversation. At first Aria thought maybe there was someone else in there, but then she realized Ali must be on the phone. She paused just outside the door, not sure whether she should interrupt or just go back down to the kitchen to wait._

_"You know you can't tell anyone," Ali said smoothly, although a hint of worry made her voice go up an octave. "If you do, I'll tell them – yes, I'm aware of that -"_

_Ali went silent for so long that Aria thought the phone call was over. She reached out to open the door, but Ali's voice made her jerk her hand back and cover her mouth._

_"You can't do that. What I did was just an accident. What you did was deliberate. How would your parents react if they knew that -"_

_Aria frowned, trying to follow the conversation. It would probably have helped if she knew who the heck Ali was talking to._

_"So I guess we're at an impasse," Ali said, then paused to listen to whatever the other person was saying. "Right. I'll keep your secret… for now."_

_Before Aria had time to react Ali opened the door, tossing her phone on the bed. Her eyes went wide when she saw Aria, but instead of asking how long she'd been standing there or how much she'd heard, she just plastered a smile on her face._

_"Great, you got them," Ali said, taking one of the sodas and pulling Aria into the room._

_Aria glanced uncertainly at Ali's cell, laying there on the bed. What had she just heard?_

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The style studio was closed when they got there. Apparently the break-in had been cause for concern and the studio would be 'temporarily closed during a preliminary investigation', or so the sign on the door said. Emily and Aria stood outside, feeling jumpy. Aria couldn't shake the feeling that –A was watching.

"I guess we should go in," Emily said after a while.

Aria nodded vigorously, hoping that fake enthusiasm would help her get through this. It didn't help her feel any better, but it did encourage Emily, who pulled her jacket closer around herself and led the way around the back of the building.

They had to creep down the alley between the two buildings, which was littered with trash; Aria saw a flash of something red up the other end. Even though she knew it was probably a cat or maybe a squirrel, it made her jump. She reached out and grabbed Emily's hand for support as they snuck around a trash can and emerged at the back of the building.

To their surprise the back entrance was at the end of a wide garden, with bright green grass and a few scattered flowers. It was all cheery, even in the dying sunlight. Aria took the lead now, hugging the edge of the building as she made her way to the back door. When she was a few steps away the light flickered on. She froze, her eyes widening. She felt Emily stiffen behind her.

She braced herself for the shout of discovery, for someone to come rushing out and ask what the hell they were doing, but none came. After a few minutes she slowly released her breath and nervously tugged at the sleeve of her coat.

"Motion-sensor," Emily said, gesturing to the light above the door.

Of course. Aria moved forward again, her heart trying to break her ribcage, and tiptoed up to the door. Emily followed a step behind. They stood under the light, watching bugs converge on it with a furious buzzing sound, and contemplated the door.

"How do we get in?" Aria tried turning the handle, but it was locked.

"Move over," Emily said. As Aria stepped aside Emily pressed her hand lightly against the glass window. Aria had the horrible feeling that she was going to suggest breaking it, but then Emily smiled slightly and started sliding her hand up the window. To Aria's surprise – and great relief – the window started to slowly open. It squeaked, like it hadn't been opened in years, and jammed halfway through. Emily looked at Aria.

"Fine." Aria rolled her eyes. It was the logical choice, of course; she was the smallest, so she was forever climbing through windows and squeezing into small spaces. She placed her foot in Emily's cupped hands, gripped the edges of the window, and pulled herself through. It was dark on the other side, so she had no idea if she was about to land on a pile of cushions or in a box of needles, but she held her breath and tried her luck.

She slid down arms-first, slowly so the impact would be lessened, and felt around in front of her. It seemed just like a cabinet or something, so she hesitantly pulled her legs through the window and swung them around so she was sitting on top of the cabinet.

"Everything okay?" Emily whispered.

Aria didn't answer. She just leapt down from the cabinet, landing lightly on the hardwood floor, and walked over to the door. It had three different locks; she quickly undid all of them, then opened the door. Emily grinned at her; the hardest part was over, and now they allowed themselves to feel thrilled at what they'd done. Breaking in was a challenge indeed.

They walked across the room, not willing to risk turning on the light. Aria felt ahead of her for large objects, but it didn't stop her stumbling over a couple of boxes. They reached the door, and she heard Emily gasp. She spun around, on alert at once. "What?" she hissed.

"I have a flashlight!" Emily said excitedly.

Aria heard the sound of a zipper, and a second later a beam of light shot across the room.

"Em, I love you." Aria stood back to let Emily take the lead, suddenly glad it was she who'd volunteered to do this with her.

The next room seemed to be the one they were looking for, although it was hard to tell. There could be any number of rooms in the studio that looked like this one. The girls approached the desk, still on edge even though it was clear by now that no one was here.

Emily held the flashlight up while Aria opened the drawer and started sifting through the contents. There wasn't much, just a few scraps of paper with nothing of importance on them. One of them even looked like a child's drawing, and was labelled 'Me and Mommy At The Beach'.

"There's nothing there," she said, slamming the drawer closed in frustration. She opened the next one and quickly searched it, but it was the same story. When she'd gone through all of the drawers she actually stamped her foot and, forgetting to keep her voice down, said, "I don't see anything."

"Here, let me look." Emily handed her the flashlight and conducted her own search of the drawers. It was more thorough but just as fruitless. "Damn it," she muttered, taking the flashlight back and sweeping the light across the room.

There was nothing else here, not even a cabinet or a closet. But it was definitely the same room Mona had been in, the same desk she'd been searching through.

"I don't get it." Aria folded her arms, suddenly feeling cold. She wasn't sure if it was because of the draught creeping through the open window or the fact that something was beginning to dawn on her. Maybe this was a setup. Maybe it was never about what was or was not in this drawer. Maybe –

"What was that?" Aria asked nervously. It had sounded a lot like a door slamming. "Did we close the door behind us?"

Emily's horrified expression was answer enough.

"Should we go and look?" Aria didn't like the thought, but she also didn't want to wait around and see what happened. If someone had followed them in, it would probably be better to find out sooner rather than later.

Emily nodded silently, and they walked slowly over to the door. Aria felt like she was walking through a field of landmines: one wrong step and everything could blow up in their faces. But they made it to the door without any mishaps, and enjoyed a moment of relief before they realized that something had changed.

The flashlight beam landed on something in the middle of the room. It was a box, or at least that's all they could see from here. And it hadn't been there before; if it had they both would have tripped over it. They exchanged an anxious glance, and then Aria's eyes snapped to the other side of the room; someone was there. She had just enough time to get a quick look at their retreating figure, including that signature hoodie, before they disappeared through the door. Aria took a step forward, and then things did explode.

Or at least, they moved so quickly that she didn't have time to process it. As soon as she took a step there was a kind of grinding noise, then a whooshing, a flash of silver, and something shot across the floor. Aria felt herself being yanked back, and she closed her eyes, suddenly feeling like she couldn't breathe. She thought she was about to have a panic attack – it had happened before – but then she felt warm hands on her shoulder, someone gently rubbing her back. Emily was here. She wasn't alone; she'd be okay.

Emily kept reassuring her until her breathing returned to normal and she felt steady enough to investigate. She took a tentative step forward, and with the flashlight's beam she could see something glinting in front of her. A trip wire. She'd already triggered it, so she figured she was safe to keep going. She crouched down near the box, and it took a couple of beats for its features to come into focus.

"Is that -"

"- a miniature guillotine," Aria finished.

That had been the flash of silver, and the whooshing noise had been the sound of the blade… her gaze traveled across the floor, following the most logical trajectory of an object that had been cut by it. A meter away, there was a small round object. She already had an idea of what it was, based on what was still in the guillotine, but she had to be sure. She reached out and picked up the doll's head; its eyes were closed, and its long blonde hair was tangled. She looked a lot like –

"Ali," Emily said quietly.

Aria felt sick. She stood up, the head feeling like a bomb in her hand. She opened her mouth to say something to Emily, but then she noticed something flutter to the floor. It was a piece of paper that somebody had been storing in the head. She'd already come to the conclusion that this was the work of –A, but this just proved it. Feeling that familiar limbs-turning-to-Jell-O, heart-sinking-to-the-floor sensation, she picked it up and read the note aloud.

**One last chance, bitch. Back off or someone's losing their head. –A**

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_"It's all done." Toby can't keep the smile off his face. "I rigged it up like you told me to, and the girls found it."_

_"How did they react?"_

_"They freaked. Stared at each other in shock, searched the whole studio looking for me, then took off as fast as they could."_

_"Did they take anything?"_

_"Just the doll and the note."_

_"We should go and get the guillotine back," I say. "It cost a fair bit, didn't it?"_

_He nods. "I still have the receipt from the antique store. Why couldn't we have just made our own guillotine, anyway? It would have been a lot cheaper."_

_"If money was an issue, I wouldn't be doing this," I reply. "I don't care how much I spend or who I have to hurt in the process. As long as I get what I'm after, it's worth it."_

_"Speaking of, I have something for you." Toby reaches into his pocket and withdraws a small box. "How exactly is this going to help again?"_

_I tap my finger on my desk, not sure how much to reveal to him. He's loyal to the team, I know that much, but he could still be a liability. Still, it is fun to gloat, and I can't do that if nobody else knows my plans. I beckon to him and he comes closer, intrigued._

_His attention is all on me, and I love it._

_"So here's how it's going to go down…"_

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	12. Lying is good for the soul

**Hey everyone. we've passed the halfway point now, but I'm already working on a sequel, so don't worry. ;)**

**Welcome to new readers/reviewers SwanQueen4055 and RinShade; thank you for the reviews, and I look forward to seeing you in future chapters.**

**Sgdp1261 - ah, yes, see, -A's plan is to torture the girls with a series of progressively smaller guillotines, until finally they end up with a box that could either contain a guillotine so small they can't see it or it could contain nothing, and they're not sure so the suspense kills them. Awesome, right? ;) Thank you for the review, as always. I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job. And, confession, I really like writing the characters as sort of evil... having Toby enjoy his job is fun to write.**

**Runawaybaby555 - I'm glad you liked the chapter. Aria and Emily do make a good team; they seem to understand each other (or at least Aria understands that since she's the smallest she gets the short straw every time). XD Out of curiosity, do you (or does anyone) know what the ship for them is called? Are they Arily? Emaria?**

**insertnameherex - I love Toby too, and everyone on the A-Team actually. They all enjoy their jobs so much and it's really interesting to write. Thanks for the review, and I'm really glad you liked the chapter. As I've said before I tried to pack as much action/excitement as possible into it, so it's great to hear I'm succeeding.**

**Forever Courage - I'm really liking your guesses as to who -A is. I've been dropping clues around the story and it's great to see you're trying to put them together. As always, not saying whether you're right or not, but keep the guesses coming.**

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_Aria was, yet again, late. The others were already at Ali's house, getting ready to go see a movie. She knew they'd tease her for turning up late again, but it wasn't her fault traffic had been so bad. Ali had this theory that Aria had a secret boyfriend, and that was why she was always running late and looking flustered. She'd done her best to quell this theory, but sure enough, Ali was on it the second she walked through the door._

_"Nice of you to join us, Aria," Ali said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm glad you could drag yourself away from your lover long enough to pay some attention to your friends."_

_"For the last time, Ali, I don't have a secret lover." Aria folded her arms and sat down as far away from Ali as possible._

_"Oh." Ali leaned back, giving each of the girls a long look. "I must be mistaken. Maybe you're not the one with a secret boyfriend."_

_There was definite emphasis on the word _you're_. Was Ali trying to give her a hint? Aria glanced around at the others, but they all looked as confused as she was. Did that mean Ali was the one hiding something? Or was Aria just misinterpreting things?_

_She sighed. It must be nice not to have to second-guess everything your friends said. But then again, if they were all open about everything, she couldn't keep any secrets herself. And that thought made her feel vulnerable. Sometimes secrets were good for the soul._

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Friday afternoon, Aria and Emily met at Hanna's house. None of them had heard from Spencer, and they were starting to get worried. She hadn't been at school, and it wasn't like her to skip it – at least not without telling them. They were torn between giving her space to get over her breakup with Toby, and knowing that they needed to talk to her about everything that had happened. This latest message from –A was clear. If they didn't back off, someone would get hurt. But that wasn't going to stop them. If they could find –A first, they could stop this.

After a quick meeting they made an executive decision to go to Spencer's. If she was really a mess they could pass it off as a casual visit, and leave without upsetting her. But if she was up to it, they were going to tell her about the message, and the lack of success at the style studio.

"You okay there?" Emily asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror on their way over to Spencer's house. "You look kind of stressed."

Aria had been digging her nails into her thigh without even realizing it. "I'm fine," she said quickly. "Just thinking."

Today was the day. She was sick of having Ali's warning hanging over her head. She was tired of lying to her friends. If they were going to track down and take on –A, they had to be united. No more secrets, no more lies. She was going to tell them about Arlene, no matter what. Although she was determined, she was also apprehensive. Her nervous energy was being directed into any repetitive action she could find: digging her nails into her leg, winding the window up and down, tapping her foot against the back of the seat in front of her. She knew it must be driving her friends crazy, but they didn't mention it.

When they got to Spencer's, her sister opened the door.

"Hi girls," Melissa said, stepping back to let them inside. "Spencer's in her room. Go on up."

They thanked her and traipsed up the familiar stairs. Spencer's door was closed, but when they knocked they heard a faint 'Come in'. To Aria's dismay, she saw that Spencer was still in sweats, with no makeup, looking as gloomy as she had the day before. She didn't even smile when her friends walked in.

"Hey Spence," Emily said cautiously as they settled themselves around the room: Aria on the end of the bed, Hanna on the beanbag in the corner, Emily at the desk chair. Spencer's eyes flicked over all of them and then away again, uninterested.

"How are you feeling?" Aria prompted.

"I broke up with Toby," Spencer reminded her. "_Toby_. You know, the love of my life? How do you _think_ I'm feeling?"

There was venom in her voice, and Aria winced even though she knew it wasn't directed at her. It was directed at –A, who had forced the two lovers apart. –A, who had been messing with their lives for over a year. –A, who was the reason for so much of their anguish and suffering.

Aria couldn't help wondering whether making Spencer break up with Toby was some kind of punishment for them turning up at the diner; if –A thought Spencer had set them up, they definitely weren't above doing something like this. Spencer had told them that she'd finally responded to one of –A's messages, saying that she'd had enough of this. –A had said they could end it; all she had to do was meet with them at the diner. She'd been pretty sure it was a trap, but she'd thought she could stay a step ahead and just get a look at –A… and this is how it had ended up.

The girls exchanged a look, silently agreeing that Spencer wasn't stable enough to hear what they had to say. But Spencer was more alert than she appeared; her eyes narrowed as she looked at them. "What?" she asked. "What was that look for?"

"Look?" Emily echoed, trying to brush it off. "There was no look."

"Guys, I'm heartbroken, I'm not stupid." Up until now she'd been slumped against her pillows, but now she sat up straighter and surveyed her friends with more interest. "What's going on?"

There was no use hiding it now. Aria took a deep breath, knowing she was about to change things and not sure if it would be in a good way or a bad way. "We went back to the studio last night," she said. "Me and Em."

"Oh. How did that go?"

"Um, horribly," Emily said, letting out a little laugh.

"Uh oh. What happened?"

Aria quickly retold the story of their late-night adventure, watching Spencer's eyes widen with each sentence. As she finished she handed over the note, which she'd been carrying around in her pocket all day. Spencer read it twice, then looked from Aria to Emily to Hanna.

"It looks like –A isn't joking around anymore," Spencer said grimly, handing the note back to Aria.

"-A was never joking," Emily pointed out, "but now it seems like…"

"Like they're tired of playing games," Aria finished.

"So what does that mean?" Hanna asked. "Are we, like, heading into some kind of showdown?"

As if on cue, the girls' cells all went off. With that all-too-familiar sinking feeling, Aria flipped her phone open and read the message.

**Get out your guns and spurs, girls. If it's a showdown you want, that's what you're gonna get. – A**

They took a moment to process this, but before they responded they were hit by another message.

**By the way, you might want to check the mail. See you there!** – **A**

Without speaking Spencer shot from her bed and padded down the stairs, the others only a step behind. They reached the mailbox and Spencer pulled it open, muttering something about having already checked it today. Then she reached in and withdrew four gold envelopes, each addressed to one of the girls. She handed them out and the girls started to open them.

"Wait," Aria said. "Let's go back inside. I feel too… exposed."

-A had sent all the invitations here. That meant they knew that all the girls were at Spencer's, and that probably meant that –A was somewhere around here. The thought made Aria's skin crawl.

Once they were back inside Spencer shut the bedroom door and sat down on her bed, opening her envelope. Aria turned her attention to her own. The swooping font, the way the 'A' curved and the 'r' curled, made Aria wonder if whoever had written it had taken any calligraphy classes. She ripped open the envelope and stared at the piece of paper inside.

The others were already reading theirs, so she quickly unfolded it and scanned the contents. It was an invitation to the Rosewood Country Club's annual gala, to be held a week from tomorrow.

"The country club's gala?" Spencer flipped the invitation over to see if there was more, some kind of secret message or even threat from –A. There wasn't. "Why does –A want us there?"

Aria shrugged. She didn't even want to consider the possibilities. " I guess the question is… do we go?"

"Do we have a choice?" Emily asked. "We've learned the hard way that if we don't do what –A says, someone ends up getting hurt."

"But if we do follow –A's instructions, it's usually _us_ that gets hurt," Hanna argued.

Spencer folded the invitation back up and put it in the envelope. Then she got up and started pacing, and the others watched her nervously. She'd been almost catatonic yesterday, and now she was pacing. For some reason that made Aria feel uneasy. Spencer turned to them, and she had on what her friends affectionately referred to as her 'Hastings face'. Aria felt better at once; even though she was heartbroken, Spencer was still Spencer.

"Okay, let's take a vote," she said. "Those in favor of going to the gala, and those against. Majority rules. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Nobody argued when Spencer had her Hastings face on.

"Those in favor?"

Aria and Emily raised their hands.

"Those against?"

Hanna's hand shot up.

"Spence?" Aria asked. "You didn't vote."

Their friend ran a hand through her hair, thinking. Then, with an apologetic smile at Hanna, she said, "I think we should go. It might give us a chance to find out more about –A."

Hanna rolled her eyes, but she didn't try to argue. She knew she'd been outvoted and there was no point in pressing the issue.

"So that's it then," Aria said. "We're going to the gala. We'll be right where –A wants us."

The others agreed uneasily, and then there was a break in the conversation. It was just long enough to make Aria feel guilty about not speaking up earlier.

"Guys," she said, and they all turned to her. "I have something… I mean, I haven't been entirely honest with you."

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked, shooting a nervous glance at the others. It was never good news when one of them announced that they'd been keeping something from the others.

"I…" She'd practiced this in her head a million times, but now that the moment had come she felt at a loss for words. She picked at a small ketchup stain on her dress, remembering how she'd yelled at Mike for spilling it on her, and he'd felt so bad he'd ended up squirting some ketchup on his own shirt to make her feel better. "When Ali was alive, she told me not to trust you guys. Not to trust anyone. And she set me up with this fake identity, like, fake ID and name and all."

"Did she take you places and get you to, like, pretend to be that person?" Emily asked.

"While she was Vivian?" Hanna added.

And suddenly it all became clear. Alison hadn't singled Aria out; she'd loved all the girls but trusted none of them, setting it up so that if any of them wanted to escape, wanted to make a clean break, they could. It made her feel simultaneously relieved and somehow strangely cheated.

"So she did the same thing to all of us," Spencer surmised. "What do you think she was trying to do?"

That was definitely the million-dollar question.

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_Toby comes by that afternoon with the guillotine. He places it on the table, gives me a sort of nervous smile (he's not normally nervous around me – we've been working together for a long time, after all – but I must look particularly intense today), and then leaves._

_I sit down at my desk, thinking. So dear little Alison had set up fake identities for all her favorite girls. How lovely of her. It's pretty clear what she was trying to do: turn them all against each other. Throw suspicion onto all of them, because she didn't trust any of them. Maybe this is her way of controlling them from the grave. The thought makes me laugh. She may have been a bitch, but she was kind of brilliant. I'm actually a little jealous._

_But her scheming doesn't really affect my grand plan. A plan which, I now remember, needs to worked on. I take out my notebook and flip through it, trying to work out what still needs to be arranged. There are four girls, and only three of us. No matter. We're smarter, more organized, and, you know, a lot more evil._

_As I write down more notes, my brain working almost feverishly fast, I absently run my hand along the guillotine._

_"Ouch!" I exclaim as, predictably, I cut myself on it. I hold up my hand, watching a trickle of blood run down my palm. It doesn't bother me. A lot more blood is going to be spilled before this is over – and I guarantee the rest of it won't be mine._

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**So Aria/Arlene's secret is finally out! What do you think will happen next?  
And, as always, please do share your thoughts/theories. It sounds like Ali is now the frontrunner in the list of -A suspects, although Jenna is a new contender. In about two chapters' time you will find out another A-Team member, so stay tuned. See you guys next chapter. :)**


	13. Not a wolf, but out for blood

**So I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this but a) I'm impatient and b) most of the regulars have already reviewed by now, so I may as well post the next chapter.**

**SwanQueen4055 - thank you again for your review. :)**

**Forever Courage - I am loving watching your logic here. This story was always meant to a puzzle, and it's great to see you trying to figure it out. And since you mention her, Melissa WILL be in the story at some point... when and in what capacity, you'll just have to wait and see. ;)**

**Runawaybaby555 - of course that's something she would do. It's cautious, calculating, and little bit manipulative. And thanks for the shipper name! I do love the Hastings face, and perhaps I can find a way to work that other line into the sequel, just for you. :p**

**Sgdp1261 - yep, there's a sequel currently in the works. I really hope you guys like the ending enough to read the next one. I can tell you now, you should be looking forward to the gala at the country club - that's where it's all going to go down. There will be murder and mayhem and... okay, maybe not. But it will be intense, I can promise you that.**

**insertnameherex - oh gosh, for a moment there I thought you were going to say something like 'because I didn't like it' or 'I didn't think it was that good'. Don't scare me like that. :p That's the great thing about the show, pretty much everyone has a plausible reason to be on the A-Team. And it's been fun playing around with the characters... I feel a little uneasy that I can write the 'evil' parts so easily, but hey, I'm probably secretly -A. ;)**

**Okay. Here's the chapter.**

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_The conversation seemed to have turned in the time that Aria had been gone. She'd only slipped off to the bathroom, leaving the girls talking about the hot guy who'd ridden his bike past the house earlier, but when she came back in they were talking about something much more serious._

_"… if you ever find my body, you know who did it."_

_Aria took up her seat on the other side of Ali, who had spoken, and tried to catch on to what was happening. Spencer, Emily, and Hanna seemed tense, and Ali was staring back evenly at them, enjoying their discomfort._

_"What's going on?" Aria asked with a nervous laugh. No one answered, so she picked up her cup and took a gulp of the vodka-lemonade she was drinking, her eyes flicking between her friends. Something had definitely changed, and she was having trouble figuring out what it was._

_Ali stared down each of the girls, then turned to Aria and smiled. "Nothing you need to worry about," she said. Then, on the pretence of reaching across to pour more alcohol into her glass, Ali whispered into her ear. "Not yet, anyway."_

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After spending the weekend alone in her room, Aria felt a little better. She'd taken a couple of what her mother called 'mental health days', where she would switch off from all of the stressful things going on in her life and spend as much time relaxing as possible. She'd finished reading an entire book, filled up five pages in her journal, and watched more trashy movies than she cared to admit. So as she trudged up the school steps on Monday, she was as relaxed as possible – which, given the circumstances, wasn't very. But she vowed to make the most of it.

She turned up late to all her morning classes (despite her refreshing weekend she was still kind of scatterbrained, and kept forgetting textbooks) so she didn't get a chance to talk to any of her friends until lunch. She slid into her usual seat beside Spencer, who was looking better, although still evidently upset over the breakup – she'd hardly done any makeup and her clothes didn't quite match; Hanna and Emily joined them a moment later.

After they'd had that talk at Spencer's, they'd decided to just leave it alone for the weekend, and come back bright and ready on Monday. They all needed a break – especially Spencer, who was still dealing with her breakup – and if they kept chasing –A at the pace they were going, they'd burn themselves out or drive themselves crazy.

Now Aria was both hoping no one would mention –A and hoping that somebody else would, because if they didn't she would feel obligated to bring it up. The gala was on Saturday, which meant they only had a few days to come up with some sort of a plan. They needed to be one step ahead of –A, which they'd never been able to do. As Aria added a pinch of sugar to her coffee and watched it dissolve, she waited for someone else to talk.

"So guys," Spencer said, reaching into her bag and pulling out three matching boxes, "the theme of the gala this year is 'country elegance', and I was in the store yesterday and I came across these. I know they seem kind of lame, but, well, I was hoping you'd wear them anyway."

She distributed them among the girls, watching as each of their faces it up when they saw what was inside. Aria pulled out her silver necklace, which was a locket in the shape of a horse's head.

"It's beautiful, Spence," she gasped, hurrying to put it on. It felt cool and sort of heavy against her chest, but she loved it. "Did you get one for yourself?"

"Of course." Spencer gestured to her own necklace, which was identical. "We're all going to be matching."

"Thanks, Spence," Emily said, and they all took turns hugging her. She beamed, pleased with her effort and the reaction she'd gotten from it.

As Aria listened to the others chatter about what they were going to wear and who they were going to bring, she smiled. She played with the necklace, watching her friends, who looked happier than she'd seen them in weeks. She could almost pretend that they were just a group of normal teens, looking forward to a normal town event. Almost.

Eventually conversation turned to the reason they were going to the gala: -A.

"That person we saw in the studio," Emily said, "they didn't look like Mona."

Aria had been carefully trying not to think about it, but her break was over now and she had to start back on the –A-trail. "No," she agreed thoughtfully, "they were kind of… taller."

"Sort of lean," Emily added.

"Like -" Aria glanced at Spencer, who suddenly looked wary. She'd been about to say 'Toby' – it did look a lot like him – but she backpedaled quickly. Spencer was still dealing with her breakup; accusing her ex-boyfriend of being –A was not the most helpful thing to do right now. "Never mind."

Spencer narrowed her eyes, knowing what Aria had been about to say. "Yeah, well, we've always known Mona wasn't working alone."

"Maybe it was Jenna," Hanna suggested. "She's been suspiciously quiet lately. And we know she can see again, so it's not out of the question…"

"I don't think it was Jenna. But it could have been Noel," Emily added. "We never really ruled him out as a suspect."

They spent the next couple of minutes rattling off a list of names, everyone from Lucas and Melissa to the janitor at school and the guy they bought their coffee from downtown. Eventually it got so ridiculous that they dissolved into giggles; the laughter was unexpected but by no means unwelcome.

"So how many people do we think are on the team?" Hanna asked after they'd stopped laughing and silence was once again pressing down on them. She was trying to act nonchalant, pushing some pudding around with her spoon, but she couldn't quite hide her fear. "Two, three? The entire graduating class?"

"It wouldn't be that many," Aria said, as much to convince herself as to reassure Hanna. "I think we're probably looking at a small team. Something close-knit, highly functional."

"Like a pack of wolves," Emily muttered.

"Actually, wolves hunt in larger packs." That was Spencer, imparting her daily wisdom on them. When they all shook their heads or rolled their eyes, she pretended to look hurt. "What? It's never the wrong time to educate."

"Spence, it's always the wrong time to try to educate me," Hanna joked. Spencer gave her a playful shove and Hanna grinned.

But –A was not forgotten for long.

"What do you think he, she, they want?" Emily asked.

"Nothing good," Hanna grumbled.

"-A wants us all there for a reason," Aria pointed out. "Maybe…"

"Maybe it's final." Spencer looked at the others uneasily. They'd always known this would have to end sometime, but _now_? "Maybe this is actually the end."

Aria leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. "So –A wants to finish this," she said.

"But what exactly does that mean?" Hanna ran a hand through her hair, then frowned as a thread on her glove got caught in her hair clip. She tugged at it for a few moments, frustrated, and finally pulled it loose. "Stupid gloves."

"Why don't you take them off?" Aria suggested, trying not to laugh at the comically annoyed look on Hanna's face.

"Because they go with my scarf," Hanna said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Aria was ridiculous for not figuring it out on her own. "Duh."

Aria rolled her eyes teasingly and then reluctantly turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "So what can we do to make sure –A doesn't… end things?"

"You mean end _us_," Emily said. Such dark words coming from Em, the sweet, optimistic one, made Aria feel even worse about this whole situation.

"Maybe –A doesn't want to kill us," she offered. "Maybe they want to -"

"What, dance?" Spencer suggested cynically.

Aria shrugged. "Maybe they're tired of this game. Maybe it's time to call a truce."

"No." Spencer shook her head so vigorously her beret almost fell off. "-A doesn't call truces. Don't you remember what they've done to us? They've pretty much almost killed all of us at one point or another. They killed Ian… they're not just going to _stop_. They want something, and they won't give up until they've got it."

"What _do_ they want though?" Hanna asked, swallowing her last mouthful of pudding. She scraped her spoon along the bottom of the bowl, then held it up to her eyes and frowned, disappointed.

"Who knows?" Aria said.

"Who even _wants_ to know?" Spencer added.

"We may not want to know, but I think we have to." Aria twirled a strand of hair around her finger, watching it so she didn't have to look at her friends. She knew what she'd see: resignation, fear, frustration. "If we don't know what –A's plan is, we have next to no chance of stopping them."

Spencer nodded, her features hardening into her Hastings face. "So we just need to find out what –A's plan is."

"Well that's a great idea," Hanna said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why didn't we think of that sooner?"

"Han," Aria said warningly. Hanna shrugged, looking the faintest bit apologetic.

"All right." Spencer clasped her hands on the table, suddenly looking all-business. Aria was relieved; although the plans that Spencer came up with were often ill-advised or ended badly, they were still better than anything she could come up with. Spencer was the natural leader of the group; it's why she and Ali had often come to blows, and also part of why Aria loved her so much. Follow her and you could never go wrong. "We've got less than a week to find out what –A is planning. Let's do it."

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_I run my finger along a rack of dresses, contemplating. I have to look perfect for the gala. Sophisticated, elegant. Breathtaking. After all, it's when my plan, the one I've been working on for months, is going to finally be enacted. I have to be looking my best for my big night._

_"Do you need help?" the sales assistant asks me with a nervous smile._

_Apparently I inspire a sort of dim fear in people, like they feel like they should be afraid only they don't know why. I grin. That's good. As long as people are looking at me nervously, I know I haven't lost my touch._

_"Do you have this in another color?" I ask, gesturing to the lemon-yellow dress I'm currently holding. "Something more… vivid."_

_She rattles off a list of colors like cherry and plum and Indonesian-beach-sunset, but none of them appeal to me. I thank her, distant but polite, and she scurries off. Of all my plans and plots and schemes, it seems the hardest decision I'm going to have to make is which dress to wear._

_Oh, the troubles of being an evil teenage genius._

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**Teaser from the next chapter:** _There's no way those girls are going to figure out what I'm up to. And even if they do, they're going to be too late._

**See you there, bitches. ;)**

**(I mean that affectionately. Apologies if anyone takes offense.)**


	14. High society, higher stakes

**insertnameherex - thank you for the long review, you're wonderful! I'm glad you'd want to read the sequel, because let me tell you, it is going to be crAzy. And thank you so much for your comment on my writing, it means a lot. I'm glad that sharing my work makes people smile rather than cringe. :p You know, -A could probably just do nothing and the girls would still go crazy, as you're proving, just by second-guessing her. Such fun.**

**Forever Courage - you're on the right track there, and for all your hard work I'll give you a hint: Red Coat's name was mentioned in the last chapter, as was Taffy's. Also, I won't give a direct answer to your question, but I will say that I am taking aspects of the book and incorporating them into both this story and, more notably, the sequel. So you'll just have to wait and see. ;)**

**Sgdp1261 - and thank YOU so much for your review. For the record I talk about myself in the third person sometimes... just sayin'. :p You're also sort of on the right track; you've picked up on an important clue or two, but you may or may not be interpreting them correctly. **

**SwanQueen4055 - thanks, as always. :)**

**Okay. About this chapter: it's the last one with a flashback/-A POV part. The rest of the story is pretty much all action. Also, there was a pretty important clue last chapter, but I think you guys all missed it because it was quite subtle. So if you feel like it, go back and re-read and tell me what you think it was. There's also some very subtle clues about the identity of Red Coat in this chapter, so read carefully.**

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_Although she didn't know it, this would be one of the last times that Aria would see Alison alive. There were no clues, other than the fact that Alison seemed a little snippier than usual. Aria and the other girls were in Spencer's barn, in various stages of becoming drunk. Emily and Hanna were the furthest gone; they were dancing to Britney Spears and singing karaoke into empty bottles of vodka. Spencer was sitting a little way away, watching the others with an amused expression on her face and occasionally singing along. Ali and Aria were the most sober, although the latter was still giggling at almost anything._

_"This is fun," Ali said, laughing as Emily tried to perform some complicated dance steps and ended up tripping over the table. "I'm going to miss this."_

_"What do you mean?" Aria asked._

_Hanna tried to help Emily up but lost her balance too, and ended up sprawled on the floor beside her. The two burst out laughing, and the others couldn't help but join in. But Aria noticed that Ali, yet again, didn't answer her question._

_Suddenly she remembered that she'd been working on a poem earlier, and she whipped out her notebook and started writing. The alcohol made her hands a little less steady, but seemed to only add fervour to her inspiration._

_"What are you doing?" Spencer asked, playfully leaning over and grabbing the book. She read a couple of lines, then raised her eyebrows. "Aria, this is really good!"_

_"No need to sound so surprised," Aria grumbling, snatching the book back and trying not to show that she was pleased with the compliment._

_"I've always liked the way you write," Ali said unexpectedly. "You capture all the important moments, all the right facts. It's like the world's a puzzle and you're putting the pieces together."_

_Aria smiled, unable to suppress a twinge of unease. It seemed like Ali was trying to tell her something. But then again, what would she know?_

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By the time Saturday rolled around, Aria was close to being a complete wreck. She and the girls had spent the past few days frenetically poring through every message they'd ever received from –A, hoping to find some clue about this grand finale. Hanna had gone to see Mona, who'd refused to talk. Spencer had gone to talk to Garrett, whom she hadn't visited since the discovery that her mother was going to be his lawyer; he'd refused to talk to her as well. Emily had followed some other leads, but she'd come up with nothing either.

Aria had even gone to talk to Matt again, but he hadn't known anything about –A. She'd also remembered something Ali had said; 'it's like the world's a puzzle and you're putting the pieces together'. It made her feel like she should have the clues to the puzzle, if only she could put them together. But she'd pored through all of her old journals, hoping to find some clues, and come up with nothing. Either they were looking in the wrong places, or there was just nothing to be found.

All they knew was that Mona, and at least one partner (the person who'd been behind the guillotine stunt in the studio), had something big planned. It involved having the girls all in the same place at the same time, and could very well involve violence – that 'get ready for a showdown' remark didn't exactly suggest they'd be able to calmly talk things through.

The girls met after school at Hanna's house so they could get ready. Normally when they were getting ready for an event there'd be chatter, banter, all sorts of light-heartedness, but today everyone was subdued. There didn't even seem to be any time for jokes, and Spencer didn't even bother correcting Hanna's grammar.

Aria sat on Hanna's bed, looking down at the dress she was going to wear. It was black, with lots of tasteful lace and strategically places buttons; Ezra had helped her pick it out before he'd left. She stood up and slid into the dress, then nudged Hanna out of the way so she could look at herself in the mirror.

The other girls, she noticed, were also wearing dark-colored dresses, but they had splashes of red or blue here and there. It made sense since the theme was elegance, but it also made Aria feel like they were going to a funeral rather than a party. She really hoped it wouldn't end up like that, but with –A involved anything was possible.

"You look great, Aria." She hadn't noticed Spencer come up behind her, and the voice at her ear made her start.

Aria turned to face her friend. "Thanks," she said. "You look great too."

The girls were all dressed now. With their dark colors and subtle makeup, they all looked beautiful as always, but also almost… sombre. For a moment Aria pictured them wearing something more appropriate to the situation: full suits of armour, maybe, or at least bullet-proof vests. This was the only way they could go in so they wouldn't arouse suspicion. Besides, the girls did look good; sophisticated, mature. Not like a bunch of teenage girls who were scared to death, which was what she felt like.

"I guess we're ready to go then," Hanna said, looking around at the others.

Secretly Aria had been hoping that they would take longer to get ready. The longer they took, the later they'd be – and she was in no rush to arrive.

"Actually I have to touch up my hair," Emily said, twirling a piece of it around her finger and looking displeased.

"And I'm not quite finished with my makeup," Spencer added, pulling her makeup purse out of her bag.

Aria breathed a sigh of relief. Then she realized that she hadn't finished her own makeup yet; she'd gotten halfway through her mascara before she'd been distracted by images of the girls in armour. She quickly finished it, adding some more eye-shadow, and then changed her earrings for the fifth time. She'd changed her mind several times, but now she decided to go back to her original idea: horse-heads, to match the necklace Spencer had bought her.

Once they were all ready they sat down around the room: Spencer and Aria on the bed, Hanna by the window, and Emily by the desk. No words needed to be said, because they all understood what this night meant. A sense of foreboding settled on the room, and no matter how much they tried to shrug it off, it would be with them for the rest of the night. Aria leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and rested her head in her hands.

"So this is it," she said. "The showdown."

"The last night," Emily added.

"The end," Hanna said.

Spencer tilted her head, and then laughed. "Well that was melodramatic."

The others joined in with her laughter, but it didn't do much to lighten the mood. Reluctantly they left the room, trudged down the stairs, and piled into Spencer's car. The drive seemed far too short, although it was at least twenty minutes. No one spoke a word until they pulled into the parking lot and Emily shut off the engine.

"So…" Aria swallowed, her mind still racing with thoughts of everything that could go wrong tonight. "What do we do now? Do we split up and try to find –A? Or do we stick together in case –A finds us?"

The girls considered, and then they all looked at Spencer. She rolled her eyes, so used to being asked to come up with plans and make decisions that she didn't even try to argue. "I don't think it's a good idea to split up," she said slowly, "but I also think it would be suspicious if we all stayed together the whole time."

Aria blinked. "So you're saying we should stay together without staying together?"

Spencer gave her one of those very _Spencer_ looks, a cross between amusement and annoyance. "I wasn't finished yet. I was _going_ to say, I think we should implement a buddy system."

"Buddy system?" Hanne repeated. "Really? Didn't we stop doing that when we were, like, twelve?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Spencer shot back, and Hanna meekly shook her head. Now was no time to be arguing. "Great. So Hanna, Emily, you guys can be buddies. Aria, you want to be mine?"

"We're Team Sparia," she replied with a smile.

They smiled at each other, but a sudden exclamation from the back seat made them turn around. Hanna was scrabbling in her bag, and a moment later she produced four small boxes. She handed one to each of the girls, who opened them with quizzical expressions on their faces. Aria peered inside her box and saw a black corsage. She looked up at Hanna, who was smiling at them.

"I just thought…" Hanna said, and then trailed off with a shrug. It was clear what she meant: this was a sign that they were united, standing together against the threat from –A.

"Were we all supposed to bring something?" Emily asked, laughing and shooting a glance at Aria, who was also suddenly embarrassed that she hadn't thought to bring anything. But the others didn't seem to mind; they put their corsages on (Hanna had bought herself one too) with smiles and compliments, and then at last they were ready.

They sat for a few minutes, trying to delay the inevitable. But then Spencer got out of the car, taking a moment to right herself on her ridiculously high heels, and then led the way inside. Aria followed close behind, scared to lose sight of her friends for even a moment in the darkness. The soft glow of lights from the main building didn't reach this far, and the parking lot lights either hadn't been turned on or had stopped working. Aria stumbled a couple of times, and at one point Emily grabbed onto her arm to stop herself from falling, but eventually they made it to the front door.

Inside it was bright and warm, filled with stylish people who were murmuring about undoubtedly stylish things. As Aria followed Spencer across the room she heard snippets of conversations, things like 'so I told the maid, I am _not_ raising her pay, I don't care if she _is_ having a baby', and laughter accompanied by the clinking of champagne glasses. Spencer was the only one who looked comfortable; to the other girls this world was foreign, something they'd never experienced aside from the occasional day-time trip with the Hastings family. This was Rosewood's high society, and Aria couldn't help but think that you'd have to _be_ high to enjoy this.

The girls came to a stop on the far side of the main room, in the quietest corner they could find. Aria kept scanning the room, looking for anyone suspicious. Although she knew –A wasn't likely to turn up in a black hoodie, she was hoping she'd still be able to tell if someone was up to no good. A few people waved at Spencer as they walked past; she was a regular at the country club, thanks to her standing as a Hastings. She'd smile politely and wave back, but she looked like she just wanted to disappear. Tonight wasn't about socializing. It was about finding –A, and ending this once and for all.

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_I look around the room, at Rosewood's elite. They don't look so special to me. Chuck anyone into a fancy dress and give them a glass of champagne, and they'll look just like that. As I walk across the room, I notice how a lot of the people don't look like they belong here. They're wearing the right clothes, talking to the right people, laughing at the right jokes. But there's something about them, about the way they hold themselves, like they're waiting for someone to look at them and realize they're not meant to be here. There's a wariness in some of their eyes, and weariness in others. Does anyone actually want to be here?_

_Well, aside from me of course. I wouldn't miss this night for the world. The plan is in motion and nothing's going to stop it now. We've just got to get the girls on their own. Divide and conquer. They may be strong together, but if you split them up they turn back into those insecure little girls they were before they met Alison. And as interesting as it's been to watch them grow up and become their own people, I don't need that right now. It's harder to deal with a group of self-assured adults than it is to torment a bunch of diffident teenagers._

_As my gaze wanders I catch sight of someone across the room. This is the first occasion in a long time when I've seen her in anything other than a black hoodie, so it takes me a moment to recognize her. She looks up, meets my eyes, and smiles. She must be looking forward to tonight almost as much as I am._

_Turning away from Mona, I pick up a glass of champagne and take a pre-emptively triumphant sip. Tonight is going to go the way I want it. There's no way those girls are going to figure out what I'm up to. And even if they do, they're going to be too late._

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**So Mona and Toby are on the A-Team... but who's in charge? All guesses/theories welcome. ;)**

**And stay tuned, because next chapter is where everything starts to happen. And in case that didn't make you excited enough, here's a teaser: **-A had lured them here. They'd taken the bait, and now they were probably going to die for their mistake.

**I'll update either tomorrow or when I get five reviews on this chapter, whichever comes first. So get reading and reviewing and let me know what you think. :)**


	15. Like a mouse in a trAp

**Bam. There we have it, five reviews. You guys are awesome. Here's your reward. ;)**

**SwanQueen4055 - thanks for the review, I'm glad you're liking the story.**

**RinShade - Toby is definitely at the gala, as you'll see in this chapter. And I'm glad you're enjoying the story; I aim to end each chapter with something that'll make the audience want to keep reading, so I'm happy I'm apparently doing that.**

**Sgdp1261 - thank you so, so much for your review. I can't even tell you what your continued support means. Although I hope you did go to sleep after reading the chapter. XD Well, it could have been Noel, I have nothing against a little crossdressing here and there. I mean, I still have a feeling the Queen of Hearts is gonna be a guy... :p You'll find out who Taffy is next chapter, so stay tuned.**

**Guest - thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**insertnameherex - the teasers are working then, I see? ;) I smiled so much after I read your review. It makes me so so happy to know that people are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. And the number of times I've turned up late to class because I've been updating, just for you guys... feel special. :p Oh no, you've figured it out! It's definitely the janitor. He hasn't been in the story but I'm sure he's sketchy as hell. Everyone in Rosewood is. I'll give you guys a hint: somewhere in the reviews, someone has correctly guessed the identity of Taffy, and someone has guessed the identity of Head A. Both of which you will find out soon, so keep reading.**

**Now, enjoy.**

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After a while Hanna and Emily drifted off – together, of course; the buddy system was still in place – which left Spencer and Aria standing awkwardly in the corner. Aria felt like they should be doing something, but she wasn't sure what. Most of the people here weren't their age; and those who were, went to the private school on the other side of town. They didn't recognize anybody. Or at least Aria didn't, although Spencer was still forced to wave and smile occasionally at friends of her parents.

"God," Spencer said, turning around and leaning against the wall. "These people are all so goddamn _polite_."

Aria laughed, but it was cut short as she caught sight of a disturbingly familiar figure across the room. He was wearing a suit that looked too big for him, a hungry look in his eyes as he scanned the room. He saw them and started walking over, pushing through the crowd to get to them.

"Spence." Aria stiffened, grabbing her friend's arm. She tried to drag her away, but Spencer was more curious than worried.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to follow Aria's gaze.

"We should go," Aria insisted, trying to pull Spencer away. But the other girl was stronger, and she gently disentangled herself from her dark-haired friend.

"Aria, what -" Her sentence ended on a gasp, and Aria knew that she'd seen him.

What the hell was Toby doing here anyway? He'd only ever used to come to these kinds of events because Spencer begged him to; but they weren't together anymore, so there was no reason for him to be here right now. It definitely wasn't his scene, and he looked far from comfortable. But he did look determined as he strode over to them.

"Spence, come on," Aria said. Her friend wasn't over the breakup yet. Talking to Toby would only reignite those feelings she was trying so hard to quell, the kinds of feelings that would send her running back to him. But it was too dangerous. "Let's just -"

"Aria," Spencer said pleadingly. "Please. Just let me talk to him?"

Toby reached them then. He didn't say anything, just stood in front of them and waited, knowing Aria was about to give her verdict.

As Spencer's buddy, Aria felt obligated to keep an eye on her. –A was going to be here tonight, after all. But as her friend, she felt she couldn't deny her this chance. She glanced from her to Toby, trying to get an idea of what he wanted. But his eyes were still on Spencer, full of longing held back by hesitation. She sighed.

"Be careful, okay, Spence?" she said at last.

"I'll be quick," Spencer promised, grabbing Toby by the hand and starting to lead him off. Then she paused and turned back. "And I'll stay in sight, if that makes you feel better."

Aria smiled. That did make her feel better. She watched as Spencer and Toby made their way over to the dance-floor, where they leaned in close and started moving in time to the music, which had changed to some kind of waltz almost the moment they stepped onto the floor. She leaned back, looking around the room. While Spencer was with Toby, Aria felt like she had to be even more vigilant. If anything happened because she wasn't paying attention, she would never forgive herself.

Her vigilance paid off, because if she hadn't been looking so hard she wouldn't have noticed a shadowy shape near the door. Her eyes slid over it and then snapped back. She squinted. It looked like a person, someone who was trying their best not to be seen. Someone who at that very moment looked up, and their eyes met. Aria's eyes widened, but Mona's narrowed.

Before Aria had time to move, Mona shot off, slipping quickly through the crowd until she was out of sight. Aria hesitated, shooting a glance at Spencer. She waved her hands, trying to get her friend's attention, but the taller girl was deep in conversation.

"Oh, hell."

There wasn't any time to be indecisive. She had to act quickly or she'd lose Mona. With one last frustrated glance in Spencer's direction she spun around and chased after her. As she dashed through the door she thought that she'd already lost her; the hall looked deserted. Then there was a flash of movement at the end of the corridor, someone ducking around the corner. Her legs reacted before her mind did; she was already running by the time she registered what was happening.

Mona seemed to be slowing down, indecisive. She reached the end of the corridor and glanced both ways, trying to decide which way to go. In that second Aria almost caught up to her, but then Mona took off again. Aria skidded around the corner after her, but came to an abrupt stop when she saw the empty corridor ahead of her. But there was only one open door, so she went toward it. She tried turning the handles of a couple of the doors on her way, but they didn't budge.

All her wild energy had faded, leaving her cautious and slightly out of breath. She walked to the door, alert for any sound or anything out of the ordinary. She reached the door, taking a moment to collect every drop of courage like a jar full of jelly beans, and then she pushed the door open. The room was dark, so she stepped inside to find the light switch. As soon as she'd done that she realized her mistake.

The door swung closed with an eerie creak. She whirled around and threw herself at it, scrabbling desperately for the handle, but when she did find it and yanked at it, she was met by terrifying resistance. She was trapped. Locked inside a dark room.

Right where –A wanted her.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"What about that girl?" Hanna gestured with a chopstick, which she'd been using to pin back her hair.

Emily followed the line of sight. She was indicating a girl about their age, who was standing at the edge of the dancefloor. She was cute, Emily had to give her that; strawberry blonde hair that she kept tossing back, bright blue eyes that kept flickering over to Emily.

"I don't know." Emily ducked her head, embarrassed by the attention.

"Come on." Hanna nudged her. "She's totally checking you out."

"Hanna," Emily chided. For the past ten minutes Hanna had been pointing out girls who she thought were hot or who were checking Emily out. "I'm not… ready."

Hanna's playfulness turned into concern. "Sorry, Em. I didn't -"

"It's fine." It was still too soon after Maya's death. It had been almost half a year, but it was still too soon. Emily wasn't sure she would ever be ready to love someone else.

"Let's go get some fresh air," Hanna suggested.

"But Aria and Spencer -"

"- are fine," she said. "They can take care of each other – and themselves, come to think of it. But I'm your buddy, and I say we should go outside."

Emily rolled her eyes. "You're my buddy, not my mother," she said teasingly, but she followed as Hanna led the way out of the room.

They were halfway down the corridor, heading for the peace and quiet of the outside dining area, when a noise made them freeze. They glanced uneasily at each other, not sure how to proceed.

"What was that?" Emily whispered.

"It sounded like something breaking." Hanna peered down the dark corridor, then shrugged, making an attempt at being nonchalant. It was almost convincing. "Someone probably knocked over a vase or something."

"It -" Her words were drowned out as there was another crash. There was no way it came from the main room, which meant it was probably someone who was somewhere they shouldn't be. "We should go and look."

Before Hanna could react, Emily had already started walking away. With a sigh the blonde girl followed her; buddies had to stick together, after all. They reached the room it must have come from. A sign above the doors announced that it was the Pool Area – Please Supervise Children. Emily shot Hanna a nervous look, steeled herself, and opened the door. They stepped through, carefully closing the door behind them. Strictly speaking they weren't allowed to be here, and the last thing they needed was to get in trouble for something so petty.

The lights were on, but dim, giving the pool a strange reflected glow. The water rippled a bit at the deep end, like someone had just climbed out of the pool. There was no one around, but just to the left of the door was a broken jug, its handle still intact but the base entirely shattered.

"What would that be doing here?" Hanna wondered, more curious than suspicious.

Emily was already a step ahead. "There's no reason for it to be here," she said. "Do you think this is a -"

Someone pulled the door closed from the outside, and with a sick feeling the girls heard the lock slide into place.

"- trap?" Hanna finished weakly.

-A had lured them here. They'd taken the bait, and now they were probably going to die for their mistake.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"We could find somewhere more private." Toby leaned in closer to her, his breath tickling her ear. "Where we could… be alone."

Spencer met his eyes and felt a tingle go through her. "I'd like that," she said, taking his hand. He started to lead her through the crowd, but suddenly she pulled back. "Aria!" she exclaimed, her eyes scanning the room. There was no sign of the dark-haired girl.

"Relax," Toby said, coming back to her and snaking his arm around her waist. "She probably just went to get a drink. We'll be back soon."

Spencer still hesitated, but his blue eyes made her resolve melt away. She followed him out of the room, and then took the lead down the hall. She knew this place better than he did, after all. She navigated to the library, which was the one place that was guaranteed to be empty tonight. She'd heard of people at events like this getting drunk and going swimming, but never breaking into the library.

The door was unlocked, anyway. With a sly grin she opened it and led Toby inside. The door hadn't even closed when she threw her arms around his neck and he pressed his lips to hers. They kept moving away from the door until they reached the desk. Spencer placed her hands on the desk and lightly pulled herself up so she was sitting on top of it. Her eyes never left Toby, who was looking right back at her. The two shared a small, secret smile.

"I'm sorry we had to pretend to break up," she said.

He waved the apology away. "It's fine. We had to make it convincing, after all."

Spencer nodded, her eyes flickering around the room as if she expected to see recording devices or hidden cameras. "They could be watching. I didn't want to put you in any danger."

"Well, there's no danger here." He took a step forward, giving her his most alluring smile.

She grinned back, her heart fluttering in the way that only Toby could make it do. He paused, waiting for some kind of signal. She lowered her head demurely, then looked up at him. Her eyes said it all. He stepped forward, taking her hand in his, and leaned in towards her.

When he pulled away again, after what felt like forever and barely a second, Spencer reached up and pulled him back in, wanting, needing more. She couldn't get enough of him. Tonight could be the end, and she wasn't sure where that would leave him. This could be the last time she would be with Toby, and she wanted to make it last.

Finally, breathless, they separated. Spencer's face was flushed, and Toby had this little smirk, like he was proud of himself for making Spencer fall for him – it hadn't been his intention, of course, but now that it had happened he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Shall I get you a drink, madam?" he asked, with a little bow.

"Please, sir," she said, giggling.

He bowed again and swept from the room. She felt a tingle of excitement go through her, but before she had time to think any more about what would happen when he came back, he stepped through the door. He was holding two glasses of champagne, which he raised in a kind of one-person toast as he gently closed the door with his foot. Then he came over to her and handed her a glass.

"To us," Toby said softly, holding up his glass.

"To us," Spencer echoed, clinking her glass against his.

They downed their glasses, and then threw them aside as he pulled her in for another kiss that lasted a lifetime.

"I'd better go," he said eventually.

Spencer stared at him. Her brain was moving more slowly than it should be, even taking the champagne into account. She felt dizzy; her first instinct was to sit down, but then she looked down and saw that she was already sitting. That was bad.

"Here," Toby said, reaching out and gently taking her hands in his. He helped her over to the couch, laying her down and making her as comfortable as possible. Then he kissed the top of her head and went to move away.

"T-Toby." Her hand flew out and she pulled him closer to her.

He stopped, looking down at her with a look of concern on his face. "What is it?"

She tried to speak, but no words came out. A wave of dizziness passed over her and she lay down, watching as Toby lingered for a moment before disappearing out the door. Then she closed her eyes, and everything went black.

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**So guys, this is probably my favorite chapter in this entire story. It was logistically the most difficult but in the end the most rewarding. I'm really hoping you guys liked it, and I will be kind of shattered if I don't get much feedback on it (but you guys have been amazing with the reviews, so thank you).  
As usual, if you have any theories or thoughts, hit me with them. A lot happened in this chapter, and if you feel like you can figure it out I'd love to hear from you. Even if you just want to comment on/complain about anything (like the Spoby hearts I may have just broken, again), leave a review.  
See you next chapter. :)**


	16. Salty sweet

**You guys are awesome. I woke up to seven reviews this morning. And last night I had a dream that I got a lot of harsh critiques, so to wake and realize that wasn't the case was great. Thanks. :p**

**Runawaybaby555 - we did know Mona was on the A-Team, but last chapter was just to rule her out as Head A. And please, as if I'd pass up an opportunity for some Sparia (or some Hannily). To be fair they TRIED to stick together, and Emily and Hanna aren't alone. And they will be reunited this chapter, so it's all good.**

**insertnameherex - I feel like I should discourage you from reading this in school, but I actually check for reviews throughout class so I guess I can't. :p I'm sorry about your Spoby heart... did it at least help that they had some seemingly sweet moments last chapter? And that they never actually broke up? :p Yes, there are twenty chapters, so we've still got a bit to go. I love how you actually went back and tried to put all the clues together. All will be revealed soon, so stay tuned.**

**Forever Courage - you have to be the most enthusiastic theorist I've come across. I love how you've put the clues together; your reviews make me smile so much because it seems like you're really getting into the story. You will find out whether you're right very soon, so keep reading.**

**Sgdp1261 - Evil Toby is so fun to write. Sorry he had to do that to Spence. And thank you! I don't actually normally write suspense scenes much; I prefer tragedy and angst, so it's good to know I can add suspense to my repertoire.**

**SwanQueen4055 - thank you! Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

**And now, without further ado...**

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"Damn it." Hanna stood by the door, chewing her thumbnail and shooting angry looks around the pool area. They'd already checked for any other exits, but the only other door was locked, and so were the windows. The pool was far enough away from the main room that even if they both shouted as loud as they could, nobody would hear them over the noise of the party. It was perfect, a well-set trap by –A that they'd walked right into.

"Hanna, calm down," Emily said tensely. She was trying to think, to come up with some kind of brilliant plan, but she wasn't having much luck. The situation seemed hopeless.

Sudden inspiration struck her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Hanna. How could we be so stupid?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. Then it hit her too. "Oh. Of course."

In unison they whipped out their cells, amazed they hadn't thought of it before.

"I'll call Aria, you call Spencer," Emily instructed.

A minute later they both hung up, dejected. Neither of their friends had answered, which probably meant something bad.

"Don't say it," Emily said warningly when Hanna opened her mouth. "Don't even think it."

"Emily, always the optimist," Hanna said, but she didn't go on to say what they were both thinking: -A had probably got to Spencer and Aria.

"We need to get out of here," Emily went on. "Is there anyone else we can call?"

Hanna searched her mind, and then her face lit up. "Caleb!" she said, already dialling his number. "I told him I'd meet him after the gala, so he should be at home now. It wouldn't – hi!" Her voice changed as he answered. "Listen, something happened…"

Emily tuned her out and kept looking around the room. There had to be a way out of here. Caleb would take about ten minutes to get here, and if –A was involved, they may not have that long.

Hanna hung up and turned to her. "He'll be here soon."

"Isn't there someone closer we can call?" Emily pressed. "Someone who's at the party. If –A is here, I don't even want to think about what could…"

She trailed off, unable to even finish the sentence.

"What about Toby?" Hanna suggested after a tense pause.

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Toby? Why would he be here?"

"Come on, you know what he and Spencer are like," Hanna said. "He can't keep his eyes – or his hands – off her."

"And he could have figured out that Spencer broke up with him for a reason," Emily said, catching on. "So he might have come to protect her."

Hanna shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Emily pulled out her phone and dialled. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hi Toby."

"Emily." He sounded surprised. "What are you up to? Aren't you girls at the gala?"

"Yeah." Emily had talked to him a couple times since he and Spencer had broken up; they were friends, after all. "We kind of… well, we're stuck."

"Stuck how?"

She tapped a fingernail against the phone, knowing there was no logical way to explain what had happened. "Stuck like someone trapped us in a room."

"Someone…" He sucked in a breath. "You mean like –A?"

"I… yeah." If he was going to be involved, he may as well know what he was dealing with.

"Where are you?"

"In the pool area," she replied.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he said, and she could hear him moving already. "Just stay together, okay? I don't want anything happening to you girls."

"Of course. Thanks, Toby."

Almost as soon as she'd finished assuring Hanna that he'd be here, he was. There was a thud, then a scraping, and then the heavy door swung open. The girls had never been so relieved to see anyone in their lives, but there was no time to dwell on that.

"Thanks," Emily said, and he smiled in acknowledgement.

"We have to find Aria and Spencer." Hanna had already slipped past them and was looking down the hall, as if she'd somehow be able to tell which way they went. "Do you know where they are?"

"I don't know where Aria is," Toby said, looking sheepish, "but Spencer and I went to the library. She's probably still there now."

"The library?" Emily echoed.

He shrugged helplessly, the ghost of a grin still on his face. She guessed they hadn't been there to check out any books… although they might have checked out some other things.

"Okay." Emily found herself falling into the role of leader, something she wasn't used to; it was usually Spencer, and before that it had been Ali. "Hanna and I will go find Spencer. Toby, can you look for Aria?"

He nodded. "I last saw her in the main room, so I'll start there. Meet back here in fifteen?"

The girls agreed, and then sprinted down the hall. They'd never been in this part of the building before, but the library was well signposted. It was tucked into the corner of a corridor, and they would have run right past it if it weren't for the giant sign announcing that 'learning and language is right this way'. The library door was closed, but not locked. Emily threw it open and she and Hanna dashed inside.

Spencer was lying on the couch, her long hair spread out like a fan, her eyes closed. A couple of empty champagne glasses lay near her. Emily's first thought was that she was dead, but then Spencer let out a little groan.

"Spence." Emily was at her side in a moment, grabbing her hand and brushing the hair back from her forehead. Hanna joined her, resting her hand on the lithe brunette's knee and gently squeezing it. "Spence, can you hear us?"

There was no response. But Emily could feel a pulse, which meant that she wasn't dead. That counted for something.

"Spence, come on," Hanna said. "Wake up."

Their friend groaned again, and then her eyes flickered open. She looked at both of them, a confused smile creeping onto her face.

"Hanna?" she croaked. "Emily?"

"Yes." Emily grinned, relief washing over her. "Yes, Spence, it's us. We're here."

Spencer slowly sat up, with the girls' help, and held a hand to her forehead. She kept blinking, like she was trying to shake off whatever drug had done this to her. "What happened?" she mumbled.

"You don't remember?" Emily asked.

Spencer shook her head, looking queasy. "Toby and I came in here to… and we had some champagne, and then… I don't know. It's all fuzzy."

"It's okay." Hanna put her hand on Spencer's shoulder and gently rubbed it. "You're fine now. We've got you."

Spencer looked at both of them again, and then at the door. "Where's Aria?"

"We… we don't know," Emily admitted. "Toby's looking for her."

"We should go help," Spencer said, already pulling herself to her feet.

"No!" Emily said, concerned. She pushed her back against the couch cushion and added more tenderly, "You just woke up. You should rest first."

She shook her head. "Aria's missing. I can't just sit here."

Emily and Hanna shared a look, but they both knew there was no point in arguing with Spencer. Once she set her mind on something, she wouldn't let it go. And it was usually better to go along with it than to stand in her way.

"Fine," Emily relented. "But take it easy, okay?"

They helped her to her feet and out the door, and then they paused.

"Toby said he last saw her in the main room," Hanna said. "We should probably start there."

Emily nodded and turned down the hall, but then she heard something. She stopped, frowning. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hanna asked.

Emily waited until she heard it again. "That."

"It's like… banging," Spencer said. "Or thumping."

"Like someone's trapped." Emily's eyes widened.

They didn't say another word, just took off down the hall. Spencer could only manage a sort of dignified stumble, so Hanna stayed back with her while Emily led the way to the mysterious noise. It was yet another closed door off to the side. The thumping definitely sounded like someone trying to get out, and it was accompanied by occasional shouts.

"Aria!" Emily shouted, and the thumping stopped.

"Em?"

Emily turned to the others, both relived that they'd found Aria and worried about what that meant. She quickly undid the latch – why did all these doors lock from the outside, anyway? – and opened the door. Hanna pushed past her, so she stepped back and helped Spencer through.

Aria was collapsing into Hanna's arms, a bundle of relief and anxiety. "You guys," Aria said, sounding like she was holding back tears. "You found me."

"Of course we found you," Emily said, going over to them.

"They found me too," Spencer said, and Aria pulled away from Hanna to look at her.

"What happened?" Aria's eyes were bright with worry. She suddenly realized how frail and worn-out Spencer looked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Spencer closed the door behind her and went over to the desk. She sat down against it, sighing. Then she looked up at Aria and admitted, "I got drugged."

"We found her when she was just waking up," Emily said. "She doesn't remember who did it."

"Spence, are you sure it wasn't…" Emily hated to be the one to do it, but someone had to say it. "Are you sure it wasn't Toby? I mean, you said you were there with him…and that figure we saw in the studio did kind of look like him…"

Spencer turned her eyes on her. "It's not Toby," she said sharply. "He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't betray me – _us_ – like that."

Emily backed off at once, but it didn't ease her suspicions. Mona wasn't working alone, and it wasn't impossible that Toby was the other member of the team. But Spencer was in no state to be arguing.

"Aria." Hanna suddenly moved around her and bent down behind the desk. When she straightened up she was holding what looked like a baseball bat.

Emily's heart lurched as she saw that one end had stains on it, like blood.

"Hanna!" Spencer admonished.

"What?" Hanna looked confused, and then she yelped, letting the bat fall to the ground. They were all thinking the same thing: if that stain was blood, then it had probably been used in a violent attack… or in a murder. Having their fingerprints on it wouldn't be a good move.

"Aria, what was that doing here?" Emily asked, eyeing it nervously like she was worried it was about to jump up and attack them next.

Aria shook her head, confused. "I don't know."

"You didn't notice it when you came in?" Spencer pressed.

"No, I was a little distracted by the 'getting locked in here by a psychopath' thing," she replied dryly.

"I think -" Spencer started, but she was interrupted by an unexpected sound.

A knock on the door.

The girls all froze, looking at each other in confusion and fear. Then Spencer stood up, still a little shaky, and walked over to the door.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked as the other girl reached for the handle.

"If it was –A, they wouldn't knock," Spencer reasoned. She opened the door, and there stood Melissa.

"Finally!" Melissa said, leaning against the doorframe. She looked tipsy, and her words were slurring a bit. "I've been looking for you girls everywhere."

Spencer shot a confused glance over her shoulder. Hanna and Aria looked back blankly, and Emily shrugged. They were just as lost as she was.

"Hey, Melissa," Spencer said cautiously. "What's up?"

Melissa's eyes drifted over her sister's shoulder and landed on Hanna. "Your boyfriend is looking for you," she informed her. "And he's been pestering me because he thought I'd know where you are. I'd love it if you could go and find him and tell him to quit bugging me."

"Caleb!" Hanna gasped. In all the excitement she'd forgotten he was coming. "Sorry, Melissa. I'll go find him now."

"Not without your buddy," Emily said at once.

For a second Hanna looked like she wanted to argue, but then she seemed to remember how much danger they were in. "Fine. Spence, you going to be okay?"

Spencer nodded. "I'll be fine."

"We'll be back soon," Emily promised, slipping through the door after the blonde girl.

Melissa watched them until they were out of sight, and then sighed dramatically. "Ah, to be young and in love," she said wistfully. Then she winked at Spencer and Aria. "I'd better be going now."

"Bye, Melissa," Aria said, enjoying how alcohol made the usually uptight girl more carefree and fun.

"Bye," Spencer said, already reaching to close the door. "I'll see you at home."

Melissa gave them a wave and a smile and then departed, but her final comment made Aria's heart stop. "See you at home, Taffy."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**Shoutout to insertnameherex and RinShade, who both correctly guessed that Spencer was Taffy. But what does that mean? And why is Toby now helping the girls? Find out next chapter. ;)**

**Teaser from the next chapter (which will be INTENSE, guys): **There was a darkness there she'd never seen before... It was like she'd been watching clouds gathering, thinking they'd only rain a little, and it was only when the lightning hit that she realized a storm had been on the way.


	17. Keep your friends close

**Forever Courage - yes, you were so close with Taffy. And your logic for the identity of Head A is also very sound. You will find out who Head A is very soon.**

**SwanQueen4055 - thank you. :)**

**Sgdp1261 - I LOVE getting reactions like that. This story had so many layers and threads that I wasn't sure they were all going to mesh well, so it's good to know things seem to be working out. Glad you liked the teaser, and I hope you like this chapter.**

**Runawaybaby555 - told you the last few chapters would be intense. And there is plenty more action to come. And thank you so much for your review; your words always make me smile and I'm really excited that you're excited about the story. :p**

**insertnameherex - oh. my. god. Your reviews made my day. I cannot stop laughing at them. I love that you're so excited and so into the story. Yes, I did read all of them, and they all made me smile. Never apologize for rambling, I told you I enjoy long reviews. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations; it was hard to plan out/write, but I hope it worked. Thank you for the compliments, and the reviews, and everything. It's people like you who keep me writing (and, more importantly, sharing my work).**

**Okay. This chapter. It explains some stuff, and, of course, it also raises more questions. Some of you may not be pleased with me after this, but this was always how it was going to end up. I'm actually really nervous to share this with you guys because I don't know how you're going to react, but I can't just leave you hanging, soo... here it is. Please please please tell me what you think.**

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"What is it?" Spencer asked, leaning against the door like she was tired.

Aria swallowed. Maybe she'd misheard. Maybe she'd misunderstood or misinterpreted. There was no way that _Spencer_ was involved in any of this. The other half of team Sparia couldn't have had anything to do with Ali's death or the A-Team. There was no way.

"I – nothing."

"Come on." Spencer raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking?"

"It's just… I met this guy, Matt. He was a friend of Vivian's – Alison's. And he said she used to talk about this girl called Taffy. And Melissa just called you…"

"Oh, that?" Spencer laughed. "It's just an old nickname. She hasn't even called me that in years."

"Did Ali know she called you it?"

She shrugged. "It's possible, I suppose."

Something was off. Aria had been less scared when she was trapped in here by herself; now that Spencer was here she was even more on edge. Spencer was Taffy, the person Matt thought was capable of killing Alison. She felt like she almost had all the pieces, but she didn't know how to start putting them together.

"So you went to see Toby," she said.

Spencer glanced sharply up at her. "Yes. We..." Her voice softened and her face relaxed into a smile. "We made out. We never really broke up. We just had to make you guys and –A believe it."

It was a plausible explanation, but it sounded more like an excuse. "So he was there? When you… passed out?"

Spencer furrowed her brows in concentration. "I think so. I'm still a little hazy on the details, but I'm pretty sure he was there."

"Are you sure he didn't drug you?" Aria hated to have to say it so bluntly, but now wasn't the time to tiptoe around the important questions.

"He wouldn't do that," Spencer said sternly. "He's on my side. He wouldn't hurt me."

"Us," Aria corrected hesitantly. "You mean he wouldn't hurt _us_."

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Spencer frowned, as if the effort of remembering something she said two seconds ago was almost too much.

"Right." Aria watched as Spencer leaned against the door, folding her arms and giving a tired sigh. She felt uneasy, but she wasn't sure why. She trusted Spencer. She loved her friend, and she knew there was no way Spencer could be involved in any of this. But if she was, Aria was locked in a room alone with a potential murderer.

"Matt told me about you," Aria blurted out suddenly.

"What?"

"About Taffy, I mean," she clarified. Then she paused, rubbing a spot of dirt off her hand, and wondering how far she was willing to take this. She didn't really believe Spencer was capable of killing Ali, but she _was_ capable of keeping secrets. So maybe she knew more than she was telling. "She said that Ali had something on her. Something she was holding over her head."

"Ali was holding things over all of us," Spencer reminded her.

"That's not an answer," Aria said softly.

Spencer pushed herself off the door and came over to sit on the desk beside her. Aria couldn't help but notice that Spencer was still closer to the door, but she chided herself for being so quick to jump to conclusions.

"The summer she disappeared," Spencer started, "she found out that I'd… I'd been meeting up with someone."

"You mean like a boyfriend?" Aria raised her eyebrows. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It was… complicated."

"Spence." Aria gave her friend a stern look, silently reminding her that everything in their lives was always complicated.

"I was dating a professor at Hollis," Spencer admitted in a rush.

Of all the things Aria had pictured her saying, that hadn't been on the list. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. That must have been who Ali was spying on that time Aria had found her at the college, and what Spencer and Ali had been arguing about so much.

"And Ali knew?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah. When I found out she knew, I tried to talk to her about it."

"What happened?"

"She thought I was sleeping with him to get into a course." She snorted. "Like I'd need to do that."

Aria was busily putting the pieces together. Spencer had been dating a professor; Ali had known about it, and threatened to go to the police. They'd argued about it a lot, but obviously Ali had never followed through. There had to be a reason for that.

"Why didn't she tell anyone about it?"

The question made Spencer tense. She glanced at the door, then the window with its closed blinds, and then finally returned her gaze to Aria. "I knew something about Ali. Something none of you guys knew."

"What was it?"

"Do you remember that summer Ali and her family went away for a few days? They went up to the coast, and when she got back she was kind of quiet."

Aria thought back to it, and pulled up some memories from that summer. Ali _had_ been quiet, kind of sullen and brooding, and when people talked to her too much she'd snap at them or just walk away. Eventually she'd gotten over it and gone back to being her usual peppy-but-snarky self, and the girls had known better than to ask what had happened. "Yeah?"

"My family went away that summer too," Spencer said. "We were staying a few towns over, but we took a daytrip out to this lake the same day they did. I hung out with Ali and her family – she was there with a couple of her cousins."

"And…?" Aria prompted when Spencer fell into a silence that was either contemplative or cautious.

"And there was an accident." Spencer's eyes darkened, and Aria felt a shiver of fear go through her. "Ali and her cousin were having a competition to see who could jump off the highest rock. They jumped off all of the lower rocks, even the ones that the boys were too scared to jump off. And then they climbed up the hill, to the top of the cliff. I followed them, but they had a head start. By the time I got there they were arguing, and I saw… Ali pushed her. I'm not sure she meant to, I think it was just kind of instinct. But they were so close to the edge…"

"Her cousin went over?" Aria guessed.

"Yeah. Ali saw me watching, and she raced over and said 'We were never here'. Then she dragged me off down the hill and we pretended we'd been somewhere else the time. Her parents never knew she was involved."

"Was… was the cousin okay?"

Spencer shook her head, but didn't offer any further details. She stood up, looking like she was about to start pacing, but she stopped a few feet away and folded her arms, seeming unsure. "We didn't talk about Arlene after that, not by name anyway. Ali just called it 'that day', and she said if I told anyone she'd tell the police about me and that professor."

So that's how those pieces fit together. Aria was still working it through in her mind. There was still something missing. She was about to ask Spencer why –A had never brought this up, but then she realized what her friend had just said. "Arlene?"

"Yeah." Spencer tilted her head, confused by Aria's sudden interest. "That was the cousin's name… hey, wasn't that the fake name Ali gave you?"

Aria felt her heart stop. That's what Ali had been trying to tell her. In her own cryptic way she had been trying to warn Aria that Spencer was the dangerous one. When she'd asked if Aria ever wanted to run away, when she'd hinted that she couldn't trust anyone… she'd been warning her about _Spencer_? Was she Ali's killer?

"Yeah, it -" Aria stopped. She had never told the other girls her fake name. Only Emily knew it, and she'd have no reason to tell Spencer; as far as Aria was concerned, all Hanna and Spencer knew was that she'd had a fake ID and a fake identity. She hadn't told them her name, so how could Spencer know it?

Spencer gave her a strange look, but before Aria could reply a line of music drifted across the room: someone's ringtone. Aria knew it wasn't her cell's (she couldn't even get reception in here, as far as she knew), but Spencer didn't seem to be reacting to it either.

"Spence, you gonna get that?" Aria asked.

"Nah." Spencer folded her arms across her chest and shrugged. "It's probably nothing important."

Aria had been suspicious before, but this was making alarm bells ring in her head. She could barely hear her thoughts over their noise. "What if it's Hanna or Emily? Or Toby?"

The cell went off again.

"Someone really wants to get a hold of you," Aria said. "You should probably -"

"Drop it," Spencer said.

A horrible realization was creeping up on Aria. Spencer was acting strange, and that ringtone hadn't sounded like hers. Either of those facts alone may not have been enough to elicit suspicion, but together they made her wonder.

"I'm going to check up on Emily and Hanna," she said, pulling out her cell. Spencer watched her as she paced around the room, finally coming to a stop a few feet away from the other girl – there was, as she'd suspected, a tiny hotspot there, the only place in the room where she could get reception. She typed a quick message and hit send, hoping that nothing would happen.

But another ringtone tinkled out, more familiar, and slightly more distant… like it was being muffled, hidden somewhere. Spencer's eyes widened. Aria's heart dropped.

"Why do you have two phones?" Aria asked.

"I don't -"

"Spencer." Aria desperately wanted her friend to provide her with a logical explanation, something that accounted for everything that felt _off_ in this situation, and then laugh at her for having such silly doubts. But somehow she knew that wasn't going to happen. Aria took a step backwards, suddenly uncomfortable being so close to the other girl.

"Scared?" Spencer asked, and Aria wasn't sure if she was taunting her or trying to comfort her.

Before she could ask there was a knock at the door. When neither of the girls moved, they heard Emily call out from the other side of the door. "Guys, it's us. Can you let us in?"

Aria's eyes flickered to the door. She couldn't get there before Spencer, but there was still an outside chance –

"Don't move," Spencer said warningly.

Aria was startled at her voice. It was deeper, sharper than she'd heard it before. It was the kind of voice of someone who commanded respect, who demanded obedience. Like someone who was used to getting their way. It didn't sound like her friend at all, and it made her feel cold.

"But -" Aria started, gesturing to the door.

"And don't say anything," Spencer added firmly.

Aria glanced at her friend, and then back at the door. Spencer was scaring her, and she wanted nothing more than for Hanna and Emily to be here with her. If she couldn't get to the door, she could at least let the others know she was in here. Spencer was still glaring at her, and Aria felt herself trembling under her stare. But she'd come too far to give up now.

She summoned all her courage, took a deep breath, and called out, "Em! We're in here."

Spencer laughed, a harsh sound that made the hair on Aria's neck stand up. "Bad move, Montgomery," she said.

And then she reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a knife. She ran her finger lightly along the edge, then dug the tip into her finger, as if to test its sharpness. She smiled, then raised her eyes to Aria. There was a darkness there she'd never seen before. She'd always known Spencer was high-strung, but she'd never thought of her as dangerous. It was like she'd been watching clouds gathering, thinking they'd only rain a little, and it was only when the lightning hit that she realized a storm had been on the way.

Spencer's eyes were glittering. She looked almost amused at Aria's fear. "You're going to wish you hadn't done that," she said, pointing the knife at her. "Now move."

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	18. And your enemies closer

**I don't even know why people read my writing. I never promise anything happy, and I always manage to break a few hearts. So if you don't want your Sparia heart absolutely smashed to pieces, do not read this chapter. Stop at the last chapter and pretend that this was all some misunderstanding and that Spencer is really on the girls' side. But if you're brave enough, read on. Those of you who read my story 'Flaws of Attraction' will be familiar with Badass Spencer... well, this is just Bad Spencer. Enjoy. ;)**

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"Spencer. What is this?" Aria's head was whirling. Her best friend had just pulled a knife on her. Spencer, the girl who'd comforted her through countless heartbreaks and been by her side through the hell her life had become, was threatening her. She tried to push her emotions aside and think logically. Spencer had a weapon, and she didn't. That meant her best chance was to get away rather than fight. But there were only two doors: the one Spencer was standing in front of, and a smaller one across the room that was locked.

"You still don't get it?" Spencer asked derisively.

Aria had thought that she was just misreading Spencer earlier, that in all the stress and confusion she was mistaking some honest, nice emotion for something darker. But there was no mistake now. That glint in Spencer's eyes made Aria feel cold to the core.

"Aria!" Emily called, banging on the door again.

"Spencer, Aria, one of you let us in," Hanna commanded, sounding equal parts frantic and frustrated.

"Don't answer," Spencer instructed. Her voice was dangerously low, and Aria was in no position to argue with her.

It sounded like the other girls were trying to break down the door, but after a couple minutes the banging stopped and Aria heard footsteps. She let out the breath she'd been holding, feeling like a deflating balloon. They may well be her last chance at getting out of this alive, and they were gone. Spencer glanced at the door, as if checking they actually hadn't broken it down, and then turned back to Aria.

"Get moving, Montgomery," she said, gesturing to the other door.

Without a word Aria started walking. Her heart was beating so loudly she was amazed Spencer hadn't picked up on it. Since this whole thing with –A had started, she'd been through a lot. She'd been attacked, tormented, threatened, tricked, and gone through all manner of trials and tribulations. But she had never been as terrified as she was right now. She reached the door and stopped, not sure what to do next.

Spencer indicated that she should step out of the way, and then she pulled out a key and slid it into the lock. The door swung smoothly open, and Spencer made Aria go first. Then she closed and locked the door behind them.

The light was off, and Aria couldn't see a thing. She could still hear Spencer's breathing, and could feel her presence behind her; aside from that she could almost imagine she was alone. Suddenly the light flickered on, and she looked around at the room. It looked like some kind of office, almost exactly the same as the last room except it was half the size. And there were no other doors: the way they'd come in was the only way to go out. There weren't even any windows.

"Spencer," Aria said, turning to her after a quick survey of the room revealed her chances of escape to be very low, "what are you doing?"

"Catching Ali's killer," Spencer said smugly.

Aria had not been expecting that. Her mouth fell open and her mind raced with all the questions she could ask, but nothing came out. Eventually she managed to choke out, "What?"

Spencer walked over to the desk and leaned against it, watching in amusement as Aria tried to get the door to open. When the smaller girl turned back to her Spencer said, "You know what I've always hated about movie villains? Aside from the fact they always get caught. What always bugged me was that instead of following their carefully laid out plans and then getting the hell out of there, they'd stay around to gloat. There was always that scene where they'd have trapped the hero, and then they'd calmly explain their plan. But, you know, I get why they do it now. It feels good to gloat."

"What is your plan then?" Aria stayed near the door, as far away from her former friend as possible. She still couldn't believe this was happening, and her mind was so busy trying to process the news of Spencer being evil that it wasn't coming up with any brilliant escape plans.

Spencer grinned, but there was no warmth in it. There was no trace of the old Spencer left, the one who'd held Aria as she cried over Ezra, who'd defended her against Ali, who'd helped her with homework and been so patient she'd even learned to understand algebra. The girl standing in front of her looked the same, but different. She seemed harsher, sharper, like all the light had been leached away from her, leaving nothing but shadows.

"I'm glad you asked," Spencer said. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, then rested the knife on the desk. She was taunting Aria, daring her to make a move. "See, the thing is, the police never really figured out who killed Ali, right? I thought I'd make it a little easier on them."

Aria titled her head. "Spencer, I didn't kill Ali -"

"I know. But you seemed as good a target as any of the girls. Any one of us could have been responsible."

She couldn't believe she was about to utter these words. She had never even considered the possibility that Ali's killer could be one of them. But the facts were not in favor of that theory. "But it was you. You killed Ali."

"We have a winner," Spencer said, still with that same malicious grin. "Of course I killed her. Are you saying she didn't deserve it?"

"Spence -"

"Rhetorical question, Aria. I don't care if she deserved it or not. She was in my way, so I took care of it."

Aria was trying to reconcile this harsh Spencer with the same gentle, tender one she'd thought she knew. Was there really no love inside her? Had their whole friendship been nothing but a lie? "You killed her. Spencer, she was your friend. She was _our_ friend."

"She wasn't our friend, Aria." Spencer scowled, as if the thought of that blonde girl was the only thing putting a damper on her day. "And it's not like I set out to kill her. We were in a stalemate, and one of us had to do something to break it. I was just going to scare her, but she didn't back down. So I did what I had to do."

Aria stared wide-eyed at her former best friend. Spencer had just admitted to killing Alison. And she didn't even seem remorseful. She looked almost… proud. Like she was patting herself on the back for having gotten away with it for so long. Aria felt sick. "You set this whole night up, didn't you?"

"Not by myself, but yes, it was mostly my idea."

Spencer wasn't working by herself? Did that mean she was working with… Mona? "Spencer. Are you… are you –A?"

"You're on the ball tonight," Spencer said appreciatively. It was like she was teasing Aria, waiting for her to put all the pieces together. Like this was just a big game to her. "I was actually the one who started the team."

"Why?" Aria had intended the word to be more like an accusation, but it came out as a plea. She still wanted there to be a logical explanation.

"I needed a way to keep Alison in line, knock her down a few rungs. She got cocky, competitive, thought she was the leader. I just needed to remind her of her place, make sure she didn't spill my secrets. Or yours, for that matter."

Although Aria had seen a similar side of Spencer, the competitive win-at-all-costs side that had gotten her elected to about a hundred different societies, she had never seen a side this… _ugly_. Jealousy didn't suit Spencer.

Suddenly something occurred to her. Something Spencer had once said. _Drugging yourself is the best alibi_.

"You planned this out," Aria said slowly, trying to fit it all together. "You wanted Emily and Hanna to find you after you drugged yourself, so they wouldn't suspect you. And you planted that baseball bat in here… was that what you used to kill Ali?"

"Neat, right?" Spencer said. "I almost used a hockey stick, but I thought that would have been a little too obvious."

"Wh-what are you going to do now?" Aria asked.

"I see what you're doing. Trying to trick me into spilling my plans so that you can stop them, right?" Spencer laughed, as if she thought the idea of Aria stopping her was ridiculous. "Well, actually I am going to tell you. There's nothing you can do to stop me, so I don't see any harm in telling you."

Although Aria had asked the question, she now found herself terrified of hearing the answer.

"I was going to frame you for Ali's murder," Spencer said casually, as if she were talking about the weather or the lunch menu. "The baseball bat is the murder weapon, which you were trying to hide because you knew we were getting closer to the truth. I was hoping that Emily and Hanna would stay long enough for me to be able to convince them that you're A, but it looks like that's not going to happen."

"So what's your backup plan?" Aria asked, stalling for time even though she knew it wouldn't help. She wasn't going to get out of this.

"You figured it out quicker than I'd thought you would. Well done on that, by the way, I'm actually quite impressed." Spencer smiled, and there was almost a touch of her old self in it. It was such a naturally Spencer-ish look. But then it faded. "But of course I had a backup. You see, when you realized we were onto you, you thought the only thing to do was to confess."

Up until now Aria had been scared of her friend, but now she was almost scared _for_ her. Had Spencer actually lost her mind? "Why would I confess to a crime I didn't commit?"

"Oh, but you did commit it. And you did confess. There's a written confession note, signed by you, that I think the police will be very interested to see." In response to Aria's dumbfounded look, she said, "Calligraphy lessons, summer before last."

Aria was rooted to the spot. She could handle coming face to face with A, she knew she could. If she knew she had her friends on her side. If she understood at all why A had been tormenting them. If she was finally able to look into the face of Ali's killer and declare 'I know what you did'. But she was standing here with Spencer, her friend, and how was she meant to fight her?

"I like your necklace, by the way," Spencer said, catching Aria off-guard.

She glanced down at her necklace, the one Spencer had bought her. Something about the way Spencer was looking at her made her very suspicious – or at least it would have if she wasn't already on red alert because her best friend was also, quite literally, her worst enemy. She fumbled with the clasp and slid the necklace off, holding it this way and that to see if there was something she'd missed. Then she remembered that it was a locket.

Her hands were shaking so badly that she could hardly pry it open. When she finally managed it, a small scrap of paper fell to the floor. Without thinking she reached down and picked it up. She heard Spencer snigger and she looked up, wondering what was happening. The other girl gave nothing away, so Aria unfolded the note and read it.

**I killed Alison DiLaurentis because she was blackmailing my father.**

Her signature followed, eerily well drawn. She hadn't written that, but it looked exactly like her handwriting. And now that she'd picked it up… her fingerprints were all over it, so she may as well have written it herself. Despite how terrified she was, she felt a tiny bit of respect for Spencer. That girl may be evil, but damn, she was good at it.

"It was cocky of you to wear that, Aria," Spencer said, smirking. "Taunting everyone with the fact that you're Ali's killer, knowing they're never going to find the proof… it's a little psychopathic, don't you think?"

"Nobody's going to believe I wrote this," Aria said, her voice trembling with uncertainty. She wasn't sure she'd be able to talk her way out of this one. "I'll tell them -"

"Sweetie, you're not going to tell them anything."

Aria's heart stopped as she realized why Spencer had been so candid with her. The only reason she'd risk telling her all of this was if she was sure Aria would never tell anyone else. And the only way to be sure of that was if Aria never said anything at all.

Spencer was going to kill her.

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**So, thank you for your responses to last chapter. I really hope at least SOME of you have continued to read and I haven't lost my entire audience because of this twist. Also, I hope this chapter works. Sometimes when I'm writing I get ahead of myself, and I'm kind of terrified that I've overlooked a huge plot hole or something. So if I have, feel free to tell me and I'll see if I can somehow fix it. XD**

**Sgdp1261 - thanks for your review, you wonderful person. To be honest I actually thought a few people were onto me/Spencer, so I'm actually thrilled that I managed to keep it mostly a secret (that's a very -A-like feeling, should I be worried?). But really, I always point knives at my friends when we're mucking around... I mean, what other ways to kid around with your friends are there? :p And despite what this story might imply, I am actually a huge Sparia fan. I just prefer drama/betrayal/tragedy/etc. On another note, I hope your baby shower was okay? :p**

**insertnameherex - when you said in one of your reviews that you thought Spencer was A I almost had a heart attack, I thought I was being too transparent and had made it too obvious. I'm glad I still managed to surprise you. ;) I'm not sure this chapter helped explain anything, but I hope it did. Also I love that you don't care about Spoby anymore because Sparia is more important. :p And yes, Spencer is a genius. I think it's interesting that in this case she's an evil genius instead of using her powers for good. :p**

**Forever Courage - I'm legitimately not sure if you're still reading, because as you can tell from this chapter there's not really much hope of a good Spencer. But I hope you are still reading, and I hope you're enjoying it.**

**Runawaybaby555 - seriously, why do you even read my work? You know I'm just going to break your heart. :p And yes, you were definitely onto something with the necklaces, as you saw in this chapter. Clever, right? I kind of love evil Spencer.**

**SwanQueen4055 - thanks, glad you're enjoying it.**

**Now, out of curiosity, is anyone actually still interested in reading the sequel? XD**


	19. Said and unsaid

**Well, it's good to see so many of you are still with me. This has been an amazing journey and I would like to thank each one of you who has stuck with me throughout it all. Only one more chapter after this. You guys psyched?**

**CMR - thank you for the review! I absolutely love the idea of evil Spencer, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the appeal. Evil geniuses are definitely awesome, hence my love for Mona.**

**SwanQueen4055 - great to see you're still enjoying it.**

**insertnameherex - oh my gosh, thank you so much. And I agree that Toby is kind of in the background in this story, but he will definitely play a bigger part in the sequel, so maybe if you read that you'll form a stronger opinion one way or the other. I am so happy my writing isn't predictable; normally there isn't so much plot or mystery in my stories, so I'm stoked that you thought it worked out well. I am very sorry about your Sparia heart... to be honest writing this story kind of broke my own Sparia heart, if that makes you feel any better? :p**

**Runawaybaby555 - when will you learn? :p Also what you said about my writing made me laugh so hard (so did the fact you felt you had to make it clear you don't do crack, like I make that assumption about my readers or something XD). Fanfiction on steroids. Cannot get over that. Anyway. I like all versions of Spencer, to be honest, whether she's bad or badass or, you know, just regular Spencer (sluttin' it up... haha, sorry, had to add that in there). But really, your words mean so so much to me and I don't know what I'd do without your reviews and yeah. You're amazing and I'm so glad you like my story (stories, I guess) and I can't wait to see what you think of this chapter.**

**Sgdp1261 - evil Spencer is definitely... interesting. I feel like I got into her mindset pretty well (should I be worried about how easy it is for me to write from an evil perspective?) and it's been fun to write. Thank you for the review, and all your reviews, and for just being a lovely person. (Although in your review I think you meant 'angst' not 'Andy'... I have no idea who Andy is so I'm pretty sure my stories aren't full of him XD). And, funny side story, tonight at dinner two of my friends did actually point knives at me... man, my life is weird. XD**

**Anyway. Enjoy the penultimate chapter, and don't forget to review. :)**

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"Aria!" Hanna banged on the door one last time, then rested her forehead against it and groaned. "Why did she stop answering?"

"Something must have happened," Emily replied anxiously. She looked up and down the hall, which was still empty, and then back at the door, which was still locked. At that point her nervous energy spilled over and she started pacing up and down the hall, needing to be doing something but not sure what she could do. Eventually she settled on exploring the area, trying to find other entrances or loopholes or anything that could get her into that room. Eventually she came back to the door, folding her arms and glaring at it as if it was the door's fault this was happening. "Do you think -"

She stopped talking as she felt her cell vibrate. She and Hanna had gone to meet up with Caleb, who'd been confused but relieved, and they'd stayed with him until Emily had caught sight of Mona. If Mona was there, the rest of the team couldn't be far behind. They'd split off from Caleb, who went after Mona, and they'd gone after Spencer and Aria. They'd managed to find them – sort of – and now they just had to _get_ to them.

Emily stared at her phone, unable to believe the message she'd just gotten from Aria.

**SOS. Spencer is A.**

"Hanna." Emily nudged her and showed her the message. Hanna's eyes widened and she looked like she was about to faint.

"What?" Hanna said weakly. "Spencer…"

"… is A," Emily finished, feeling like those words were condemning her friend. But if it was true, their 'friend' was actually the one who had been torturing them for months. "And she's in there with Aria."

"We have to get to her," Hanna squeaked. "We can't let her -"

Emily slid her cell back in her pocket. "Don't worry. We'll stop her," she said confidently. She didn't feel confident, but falling apart wouldn't help here. A sudden thought hit her. "I think I saw a window around the other side. We could break it and -"

Hanna didn't wait for her to finish before she started jogging off down the hall. Emily shrugged, stopped talking, and ran after her. They had to save Aria.

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Aria shoved her phone back in her pocket while Spencer's back was turned, hoping against hope that the other girl hadn't noticed. Spencer turned back to her and smiled. "I'm guessing you've figured it out by now," she said. "You're not going to leave this room. I would have preferred if you'd just gone to jail, but… well, you know too much."

"So you're going to kill me." To her surprise, Aria's voice was steady. Her heart was beating painfully fast and her legs were shaking, but she didn't give anything away in the way she spoke. She sounded like she was strong, challenging. All those things she wished she was.

"I'm sorry, Aria." She almost sounded sincere, but there was still a coldness, a sort of detached air to her words. "This is the only way this can end."

"Was all of it a lie?" Aria blurted out. She knew she was about to die; even if Hanna and Emily got here, they'd be too late. This wasn't about stalling Spencer while she came up with a brilliant plan. This was just about getting answers. "Did you even care about us at all?"

Spencer pulled herself up onto the desk and crossed one leg over the other, considering. She ran a finger along the knife, and then, slowly, she nodded. "I did actually care for you," she said, looking up to meet Aria's startled eyes. "I still do. You girls are the best friends I've ever had."

"Then why are you doing this?" Aria couldn't keep all of the frustration from her voice, and she didn't even try to hide the hurt. This betrayal was worse than anything she could ever have imagined.

"Because it's fun. Being in control. Pulling the strings. It's such a rush of power; you should really try it sometime." She glanced at Aria, and then she laughed. "Sorry. It's not like you're going to have a chance. So just take my word for it."

"But this was just about Alison," Aria pointed out, "I mean at first it was anyway. Once she was gone, why go after us?"

"It wasn't just about me," Spencer said. "I got some people to help out. Mona, for one. And the other one, although I'm sure you already figured it out, is Toby. Once Alison was gone they wanted more. They still had grudges against you, against all of us, so I figured it was better to be with them than against. As long as I helped them hurt you, I was safe."

"So you chose yourself over us." Aria watched her friend for any signs of remorse or regret, even shame, but she couldn't catch any.

Then Spencer met her eyes again, and Aria thought she saw something, just a flicker, of an emotion like guilt or fear. Then it was gone and Spencer was back to being the ice queen.

"I did what I had to do," she said. "I'm sorry it ended up this way. But it's too late to back out now."

"So this is it." Aria held her gaze, daring her to look away. Some small part of her still hoped she could connect to that tiny part of Spencer, of _her_ Spencer, that was still there. If she could get through to her, to that goodness she knew was inside her, maybe she could stop this.

But most of her just knew it was hopeless. She was going to die.

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The window was higher up than Emily had said. To get to it Hanna had to drag a small wooden bench over to stand on. She knew that in movies people always wrapped their elbow in a jacket and used that to bust open the window, but she didn't have a jacket. Instead she and Emily each grabbed a small rock and slammed them into the window until it smashed. Then they hastily swept away the glass with their hands, watching it fall into the grass and shimmer in the light from inside.

It wasn't dignified, but they both managed to scramble through the window and land mostly upright on the other side. To their surprise, the room wasn't empty. There were two figures in the room, and each of the girls was drawn to a different one. Hanna rushed towards the person sprawled on the ground, a strangled yelp escaping her throat, while Emily stared mutely at the taller figure standing over him.

"Emily!" Toby exclaimed, with a glance at the unconscious Caleb at his feet. "This isn't -"

"What the hell is going on, Toby?" Hanna demanded, resting her fingers against Caleb's wrist to test for a pulse. She let out a relieved sigh and slumped back a bit, but she didn't let go of him.

"It's not what it looks like," Toby said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I found him like this. I think… Mona's here tonight. I think she may have found him…"

Emily opened her mouth to reply, but then she remembered why she was here. Without a word she rushed over to the door and started trying to open it, and Hanna, after one more agonized look at Caleb, came over to help.

"Try this," Hanna offered, pulling a bobby pin out of her hair.

Emily took it and inserted it into the keyhole. She jiggled it around a bit, an almost comically intense look of concentration on his face, and then he let out an 'Aha!' and stepped back. She glanced at Hanna, then reached for the handle. This time it turned, and she stepped through with trepidation, but no hesitation. There was no time to waste.

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Spencer reacted more quickly than Aria could process what was happening. When they heard the door open, the taller girl lunged for her, and instinctively Aria's hand shot out to protect herself. She closed her eyes for a split second, grabbing blindly onto whatever she could.

"Aria!" Spencer exclaimed, her voice panicked.

Her eyes shot open and she looked around the room. Emily and Hanna were standing in front of the door, identical looks of shock on their faces. Toby stepped through the door, quietly closing it behind him. He didn't look surprised, and Aria understood that Spencer had been telling the truth. He was in on it. She glanced down at her hand, realizing what this looked like; Spencer had set it up so that it looked like Aria was attacking _her_.

"No!" Aria quickly let go of her and took a step back, looking pleadingly at her friends. "I didn't -"

"What's going on?" Emily interrupted. Hey eyes kept flicking back and forth between Aria and Spencer; she knew that one of them had to be part of this, but she wasn't sure which one.

"Aria killed Alison," Spencer said breathlessly, and Aria let out an indignant whimper.

"I didn't!" she protested.

"Then why do you have this?" Spencer reached out and snatched the piece of paper from Aria.

She hadn't realized she'd still been holding it. The fabricated confession. Her friends wouldn't believe it, would they? But then again, believing Spencer was capable of doing the things she had done wouldn't be easy either.

Hanna tentatively took the note and read it, Emily peering over her shoulder and Toby surreptitiously standing guard near the door.

"Aria, what is this?" Hanna asked.

"It's fake!" Aria burst out. "Spencer's –A. She set this whole thing up. I didn't hurt Ali, it was Spencer -"

"Is that true?" Emily turned her attention to the tall brunette, her expression sharper than usual. She was the sweet one in the group, but if anyone hurt her friends she could turn into a lioness.

"Why would I have hurt Ali?" Spencer said evenly.

Aria noticed that she was watching Toby, sharing some kind of secret conversation with him. Toby discreetly pulled out his cell and typed a message, but he was behind Hanna and Emily so they didn't see. They were entirely focused on Aria and Spencer, still trying to make sense of everything that was going on.

"Guys, you need to get out of here," Aria said desperately. "Toby's in on this too. You need to leave before -"

"Before what, Aria?" Toby said silkily, raising an eyebrow.

The look he gave her sent shivers down her spine. It had been bad enough when she was here with Spencer, but now Hanna and Emily were part of this too. They weren't outnumbered, but they were unprepared.

"Well." Spencer shrugged, apparently coming to a decision. "I guess the game is up."

And before any of them had time to react she wrapped her arm around Aria's throat and pulled her in, pressing the knife against her neck.

"If any of you move, I'll kill her," she threatened.

Emily and Hanna were deathly still. Nobody dared say a word.

"Good choice," Spencer said smoothly, "although I never said I wouldn't kill her anyway."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**So this is possibly my favorite cliffhanger that I've ever done. Suspense much? Don't worry though, the next chapter will be up very soon, of course.**

**Now, on a similar matter, I'm writing the sequel now. Is there anything you guys want me to include in it? Any characters you want me to throw in? Plans you didn't quite understand or clues you think were somehow relevant and want me to explain? Let me know. ;)**


	20. It's not over yet

**Hello, loyal readers. It's great to know you're still with me. I apologize for the slow update; I wanted to take some time to make sure this last chapter was up to scratch, and then when I finally went to update I discovered that my Internet was down. So, sorry for making you guys wait!**

**Forever Courage - I actually thought I might've lost you when you found out Spencer was A/evil, so it's actually a relief to see you're still reading. Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the chapter.**

**insertnameherex - thank you for the reviews. You didn't seem rude or impatient, I know I kind of hyped you guys up and then left you hanging, and I apologize. :p Toby is kind of evil, yes, but he is and will always be sexy. Get ready to see a lot more of him in the sequel. ;) And YES. I should do a crossover/swap with my two stories... that would be amazing. Actually my head hurts just thinking about it, so maybe not. XD And if I could, I would've ended this story with a Sparia kiss (what could be better, right?) but that would have possibly ruined the flow a little bit, so you'll have to settle for what I have.**

**Sgdp1261 - keep an eye out for Andy in my other stories (seriously, I'm going to add a character called that just for you :p). In my mind Spencer does actually genuinely care about the girls, a little... she just cares about herself a lot more. And I laughed at that 'A-hole' remark, very clever. ;) See, in this chapter I was torn between loving tragedy and knowing what needs to happen in the sequel, so I hope you like how it turned out. And I'm pretty sure my friends aren't working with Spencer... although I walked into one of their rooms the other day and someone had carved the letter A into their door, which was a little freaky. XD And it's totally okay, I didn't think you were being impatient, just enthusiastic. Reviews never hurt. ;)**

**Runawaybaby555 - don't worry, Spencer will be in the sequel. Sorry for all the suspense, and I hope you like the conclusion to the story (well, the conclusion for now). This chapter actually kind of broke my Sparia heart, possibly more than the others, because I included that line I told you I was using, only in this context... poor Aria. Anyway, let me know what you think.**

**SwanQueen4055 - thank you!**

**hollyanne - thanks you so much. I would love a job on the show, although I think the stress may kill me. Plus they wouldn't be able to tell me anything, because I found it hard enough not just telling all you guys who A was right from the start in my own story. XD**

**Okay. Here it is. Please let me know what you think. And thank you, once again, for sticking by me and this story, for your amazing reviews, and for being so enthusiastic that I was inspired to write a sequel. This is for you, guys.**

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Aria let out an involuntary whimper as she felt the cold metal digging into her skin. Neither Hanna nor Emily had moved, but Spencer was still pressing the knife in deeper. She only eased up once it drew blood, and even then that was only because something interrupted her. The door swung open, and Toby stepped quickly out of the way. Emily and Hanna whirled around to see the newcomer.

"Mona," Spencer greeted her, sounding genuinely pleased. "Come to join the party?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Mona replied, taking in the scene with an unreadable expression.

Hanna looked like she was going to try to strangle Mona, but Spencer met her eyes and shook her head warningly. The blonde-haired girl bit her lip, but didn't move.

"Spencer," Toby said, "we should really get on with this."

"Yes, I do have other plans." Mona seemed totally unconcerned; Aria felt that Mona should be nonchalantly filing her nails to add to the effect.

"Well, I had other plans too," Spencer said. "But somebody had to go and ruin them."

"Gee, I'm sorry for ruining your evil master plan," Aria said sarcastically.

"Careful, Aria." Spencer dug the knife in deeper.

Her mouth snapped shut. Spencer was crazy enough as it is; provoking her couldn't lead to anything good.

"Spencer, why are you doing this?" Emily's voice was plaintive, and she was trying to hold back tears. She was so fiercely loyal; this must be killing her.

"Why shouldn't I do it?" Spencer replied, as if that was answer enough.

"This doesn't make any sense," Hanna protested. "Why would -"

"Oh, be quiet," Spencer said impatiently. "I'm getting sick of the questions. Let's just -"

She stopped mid-sentence, confusion creeping across her face. Aria heard it a second later: sirens. Maybe everything wasn't lost after all. She met Emily's eyes, and then Hanna's, and they gave her all the strength she needed. Without giving herself time to think she slammed her foot as hard as she could into Spencer's. The other girl let out a yelp of pain, her grip on the knife slackening. Aria followed up by ramming her elbow in Spencer's ribs, which was enough to make her step back, and then she tumbled forward, into Emily's arms.

"You're little," Spencer said, her voice raspy, "but you're a big pain in my ass."

She straightened up, wincing at the pain in her ribs, and eyed them all with disdain laced with some unidentifiable, but darker, emotion.

The police were on their way; that meant they only had to keep Spencer at bay until then. And now they were all out of reach of the knife, so maybe they stood a chance. There was no denying now that Spencer was the enemy, and the others were united in their fear and in their purpose. But Spencer wasn't alone, Aria remembered with a jolt. She craned her neck and peered behind her, only to find the door closed and the way behind them empty. Toby and Mona were nowhere to be seen.

"Emily," Aria whispered, "where are Toby and Mona?"

Hanna and Emily turned around, their faces falling as they realized the others were gone. Keep your enemies close… don't let them disappear and lock you in a room with a crazy person.

"Spencer," Emily said, turning back to her, "we can help you. It's not too late -"

"Too late for what, Emily?" Spencer challenged, flinging her arms out as an invitation for the other girl to act. "To renounce my grudge and repent my sins? To see the error of my ways and go back to being a meek little schoolgirl? It's way too late for that."

"It's not," Hanna said. Despite everything Spencer had put them through, they didn't want to give up on her. "We can help."

"I've got all the help I need," Spencer said, with a grin that Aria didn't understand until she turned around.

Toby was coming back through the door; he had a fresh bruise on one cheek, but his eyes were dancing. He was excited about something, which didn't bode well for the girls.

"Does she have him?" Spencer asked, and Toby nodded.

"Have who?" Aria asked.

Hanna caught on a second quicker. "Caleb!" she gasped. "What did you do to him?"

"He's safe… for now." Spencer smiled, but somehow it seemed more like a threat than an expression.

"What do you want?" Emily asked exasperatedly.

"It's not about that anymore," Spencer said. "It's about what I _don't_ want."

"Fine." Aria rolled her eyes. "What _don't_ you want?"

"I don't want to get arrested," she stated simply. "I'd hoped that Aria would take the fall for this one, what with the confession note and you two figuring out she was –A… but that's not going to happen. And I doubt I could convince any of you to take my place."

She paused to laugh. Nobody else joined in, although Toby did look amused.

"So here's the deal," she went on, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "You let me walk out of here, and you get Caleb back. If I get arrested, he dies. Sound simple enough?"

There was a moment of deafening silence. Their minds were all racing, trying to outsmart her, come up with a loophole, an alternative plan, anything. But they'd never been able to match Spencer in a battle of wits, and tonight was no exception. Aria felt Hanna stiffen beside her, and Emily was as still as a statue. Nobody dared to even breathe.

Then Hanna purposefully stepped aside, leaving the path to the door unobstructed. Aria and Emily followed her lead; there was no arguing with Spencer, and if they wanted to see Caleb again they had to do what she wanted.

"Good choice, girls." Spencer strode across the room, exuding confidence, daring anyone to challenge or stop her. No one did. She reached the girls and stopped, giving them all a snakelike smile. "Catch you later, bitches," she said.

She took a few more steps toward the door, then paused again, leaning in to whisper into Aria's ear. "I'll be seeing you."

Before Aria could react Spencer was gone, sweeping almost majestically from the room, Toby less than a step behind her. The door swung closed and there was a minute of silence, during which none of the girls could think of anything to say. Then the door opened again, and Caleb came rushing in. He quickly surveyed the girls, visibly relaxing when he realized they weren't hurt, and then Hanna threw herself at him. He caught her and held on like he was scared she'd be wrenched away from him.

"It's okay," he soothed. "It's going to be okay."

And although Aria didn't say it, she was thinking what everyone else was: how was anything ever going to be okay again?

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

The next day, Aria slept until three in the afternoon. Every couple of hours she would stir, opening her eyes a little, and then she would remember what had happened last night and why she didn't want to face the world. She only managed to drag herself out of bed when the phone started ringing. She waited for a while, hoping someone else would get it, but then a dim memory of hearing her dad and Mike leave an hour or so ago came to her. She hauled herself out of bed and padded over to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Aria!" Emily chirped. She seemed way too cheery, considering everything that had happened. "How are you?"

Aria sat down on the nearest chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Emily correctly interpreted the silence.

"Me too," she said. After a pause she added, "Hanna's coming over to my place soon. Do you want to come too?"

She looked around the empty house, her mind swirling with thoughts and memories. "Yeah. I'll see you soon."

Twenty minutes later she was sitting on the end of Emily's bed, while Emily went to fetch them some coffee and Hanna paced nervously around the room. Emily distributed the drinks – which were much stronger than usual – and then sat down beside Aria. Hanna kept pacing.

"So it anyone going to talk about it?" Aria asked at last, staring into her cup. She couldn't bear to look at her friends; the hurt and confusion she was feeling would be reflected in their eyes, and she wasn't sure she could handle that.

"No," Hanna said, pausing briefly to take a sip of her coffee. Then she set the cup down on the dresser and kept pacing.

"We can't ignore it forever," Emily pointed out softly.

"There's nothing to talk about." Hanna stopped and looked at both of her friends; Aria carefully looked at a spot just above Hanna's shoulder. "Spencer was –A. She killed Ali. Now she's gone."

"Do you think she'll be back?" Emily asked tentatively. The others glanced at her, surprised she would even bring up the topic; she ducked her head and took a gulp of coffee, making a face at how strong it was. "I just mean… did we ever find out why she was doing it?"

Aria nodded. Emily and Hanna turned to her, and she finally met their eyes. "When she… She explained it to me. Back when Ali was alive, Spencer was sleeping with a college professor. Ali thought it was so Spencer could get into a college class, and now I think about it, I wouldn't put it past her. But Ali couldn't use that knowledge because Spencer knew something about her."

"What did she know?" Hanna prompted when Aria fell silent.

Aria took a deep breath and kept going. "One summer they went on vacation to the same place. There was an accident, and Ali's cousin… I'm not entirely sure, I think she died. But it was kind of Ali's fault, and she made Spencer promise not to tell anyone."

"So they were in a stalemate," Emily mused.

"Yeah." Aria nodded, then looked back down at her cup. It was empty already, which partly explained why her hands had started shaking. "I think somewhere along the way, Ali realized Spencer was dangerous. That's why she set me up with a fake ID – Arlene. That was the name of the cousin. She was trying to warn me about Spencer, to make sure that if anything happened I'd be able to figure it out. She kept dropping all these cryptic clues about not being able to trust people. I guess she was right."

"So Spencer did kill Ali?" Hanna asked. "Why?

"Ali was in her way," Aria explained glumly. "Spencer started the –A thing to try to scare her, to make sure Ali never told anyone what she knew. You guys saw how much they were fighting that summer. I guess it just got really heated one time, and Spencer… After that she sort of became the leader, remember? And she liked it. It was like… like she got addicted to the power. She got carried away."

"Under different circumstances I'd almost feel sorry for her," Emily said sadly.

"Yeah, well, I don't feel any sympathy at all," Aria grumbled, rubbing the place where Spencer had dug the knife into her neck. The girls and Caleb had made an executive decision not to go to the police about Spencer, even though Caleb had been the one to call the police the night before when he was unable to locate the girls. They'd had reasons not to tell the police about –A before, and now that they knew who it was it seemed even more dangerous to contemplate turning her in. Spencer knew all of their secrets, and if they got the police involved she wouldn't be the only one getting in trouble.

"Maybe she's gone for good," Hanna said hopefully.

It felt weird to Aria, hoping that one of their best friends was out of their lives. But now they knew who Spencer really was and what she was capable of, it really would be better for them if she was gone. Toby and Mona too. But something told her it wasn't over. She let her gaze wander around the room, drifting to the window. It was clear and sunny outside, and the sounds of neighborhood kids floated up to them. Beneath the bright façade, something darker was lurking. They could put a name and a face to it now, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

She turned back to her friends, took a deep breath, and asked the question they'd all been thinking.

"So what do we do now?"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

_"Last night was a disaster," I say again, tapping my nails against my leg in irritation. I glance over at Toby, who's driving, and he just shrugs, his eyes still on the road._

_"If I might be so bold," Mona says, and I gesture for her to speak. "All isn't lost. They won the battle, but they haven't won the war. We've still got a few tricks up our sleeves."_

_"She's right," Toby says, reaching over and squeezing my hand. Instantly I relax under his touch; he always has that effect on me. "We'll get them next time."_

_We pass the sign leading out of town. _Thank you for visiting Rosewood!_ it announces cheerfully. I rotate in my seat so I can look out the back window, watching as the town disappears from sight. I feel a little like this is an ignominious retreat, but I've mostly managed to convince myself – and the others – that this is a strategic move. We need to relocate so we can regroup and work out our next move. There's nothing cowardly about laying low._

_I turn my attention back to the road ahead of us, my mind already racing with possibilities, and I can't help but let an evil grin creep onto my face._

_Buckle up, bitches. It's not over yet._

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**So? Thoughts? If I can hit 100 reviews I will be so incredibly happy (but even if I don't, I love you guys and think you're awesome).**

**I'm hard at work on the sequel, which should be up by the end of the month. I know, I know, that's a long time, but I have exams coming up so I really need to focus on those. But in the meantime I have some other stories I'll be publishing sporadically, like the final chapter of Flaws of Attraction, as well as Darkness (a dark one-sided Wren x Spencer story, even if you don't like the pairing give it a shot) and Iridescence (the follow-up, which will be a Spoby AU), so keep an eye on my page.**

**Before I go, I'll give you a few teasers about the sequel. It will be from the points of view of both Aria and Spencer, so you'll get to see what happens with the Liars and with the A-Team. It will have some Ezria, Haleb, Paily, and, my favorite, A-Team Spoby. If you thought A is for Arlene was intense, wait until you see S is for Salvation. It's going to be insAne. And, if you have anything you want me to include, just leave it in a review or a PM and I'll see what I can do.**

**Now, a little excerpt from the sequel:**

She'd thought she was prepared for it, but when the person pulled back their hood, Aria felt her whole world crumbling around her. She stayed just long enough to be sure of it, and then she hurried away from the diner and back to her car. With trembling fingers she typed a quick message to Hanna and Emily: **Spencer's back**.

**See you there, everyone. ;)**


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